Stranded...

Little did I know that I would be writing again to document yet another adventure that can be included with the "France" chapter of my life.
On Saturday morning, I woke up on time, early even, to catch the TGV train to Paris. Because of the weather, the train ran a little under 1 hour late. My host father assured me that when the trains are delayed,the planes are delayed, so I was counting on the fact that my flight to Chicago would be an hour late. Not so. I arrived 5 minutes too late to check in to the flight. When I found that out, it seemed surreal and I wondered when I could get out of Paris and home. There were several girls in the same situation as well, so we all stood in line to talk to the United Airlines customer service. No one was happy, especially not the workers. When I got to the counter, my entire being was shaking, which resulted in the shaking of my voice when I talked to the man. I was as respectful as possible and he said the soonest he could get me a flight would be on the 24th. Other than that, I would have to be on standby each morning... which includes being there at the crack of dawn to "check-in" and wait until the last minute to see if they had any available slots on the flight. Needless to say, I was determined to the one of the first people on the list, so I stayed overnight in the Charles De Gaulle airport. I hung out with two other students who also had attended the Institute in Tours and we took turns watching the stuff and coming up with ideas to keep ourselves busy. As soon as I found out that we would be stranded the entire night, I began making lists and a schedule of the time, just to provide a distraction and a sense of purpose to the 24 hours of my life that I spent in that place.
I probably slept for about 20 minutes that first day because my nerves were too wired to let me rest enough to even get tired. We shared a computer between the three of us and bought 24 hours of internet. That was the only way I could contact anyone. I used the internet a lot... We camped out in front of the ticket counter around 3:30am with our luggage and our wacky senses of humor. At 6am, we decided to get Starbucks, which only aggravated my nerves, so I was bouncing off the walls. So much so that my friends took my coffee away from me and refused to let me finish it. I ended up sneaking sips anyways.
We all got on the standby lists, most for Washington DC with the belief that getting on that flight was nigh impossible, but it would help our chances for getting on the flight to Chicago. Imagine our surprise when they put over 20 standbys on the DC flight... I was one of them. I asked originally if I could change to Chicago, but the lady said no, so I took the ticket and literally ran to the flight. I almost started crying when I realized that I would not be stuck in the Paris airport for another night.
The flight didn't leave De Gaulle until 3 hours after the initial departure due to the snow in Paris, so it put us later into DC. Apparently, the snow canceled later flights, so it was quite the blessing to have made it out yesterday. The flight was bizarre, but I was very thankful for it. I also realized that Denver is a major hub for United flights, so that helped raise my spirits, along with watching 500 Days of Summer and Up... that was great. What was not great was that United had misplaced my bags that the anxiety returned. I waited for three hours to figure out what had happened to the two pieces of luggage that contained important things that had formed my life the past 3.5 months of my life... thankfully, they were sent to the wrong terminal. Once I had them, I talked to the lady at the counter and, after sharing my story with her, she decided that I needed a flight out and she got me a ticket for Denver that leaves at 8:30am Eastern time. That was an unseen blessing. Everyone here is looking for flights... EVERYONE. I walked up and down the Concourses C and D- the waiting rooms for the standbys were full. Thank you God that I do not have to go through that again.
My family told me when I skyped with them last night that they had driven to the airport last night in order to see if I had gotten on the Chicago flight... I, of course, could not have let them know anything because I had no way to send them the message that I had made the DC flight... Long story short, always bring a cell phone with you... it's just more safe and practical for everyone's sound mind.
The adventure is not quite finished and I didn't even give the entire account of what has happened to me in the past 48 hours... When I get home, I will probably write another blog recounting my joy at finally terminating my voyage home from the semester abroad.

Au revoir, Tours...

It's been grand, it's been awesome, but now the time has come. I'm leaving this morning and my stomach is filled with butterflies... I'm nervous because the traveling situation isn't ideal, but I'm also nervous because my life is changing drastically again. Another chapter is beginning... and beginnings are hard sometimes. At least it's not like I'm starting over from scratch like I was 3 ish months ago. I'm so glad to be going home. I don't think this will be my last blog... I'll probably write another entry or so telling of the journey home and the processing that will happen when I get home. I'm looking forward to that part, seeing what I took away from this time in terms of the big picture. I will miss France, but I hope I will come back in the near future.
I have to finish packing my valise to be able to leave in 15 minutes...

Oh man...

Winter Wonderland... oh, let it snow!

It's true. Things that rarely happen do occur, such as snow in Tours. This opportunity has satisfied my desire for snow and absolutely ruined any academic spirit I might have had in my body. From the first sighting of snow this morning, I've been in such a good mood, loving seeing the white flakes grace the old buildings and watching students, young and old, throw snowballs at each other. It's amazing how snow affects different people. There were quite a few people at the Institute who had never seen snow before... Some people grabbed their umbrellas and stood outside with them, which gave me a good chuckle. Others immediately grabbed the nearest snow, fashioned a projectile and threw it at the nearest unsuspecting victim. Others made the snowballs and offered to give them to the people taking shelter inside. A newly-made Arab friend offered me a snowball to spread on my baguette that I was eating with chocolate. I politely refrained and he went on to ask the nice older Irish lady if she wanted it in her hot chocolate. People really do the silliest things when they see snow. I love it.
The French, or at least the people in Tours, don't really know what to do when it snows. Apparently it doesn't happen often enough to invest in snow tires or chains, so the French just continue to slip and slide their way around town, which can be pretty dangerous... Thankfully, the only thing that would stop trains would be if the top electrical line became frozen, but it looks like that won't happen... It's not cold enough. Don't get me wrong... It's truly cold, but the snow that was on the ground is turning into slush. I hope that doesn't turn into ice tomorrow! Thankfully, I have until 10am to be at class, so hopefully it has time to melt if it does turn deadly. I also live close to the Institute, so that's good.
I bought most of my last minute gifts today and I'm trying to grasp the concept that I only have one day left here... My heart is sad, but it's also jumping for joy in my chest to see friends and family. One of my friends put it very well: I don't want to leave France, but I'm more than ready to be home. Too bad those things can't reside together for the moment. The rest of my time will be consumed with packing and trying to figure out small details. Tonight, Kamal (the real spelling of his name) is coming over for dinner and my host dad is coming home from his business trip to Italy. It will be a great dinner, I think. The conversations are always great when Kamal comes over. I love learning more about Muslim culture.
Last night, we had a gathering of BGSU students/TU students over here at my apartment and it was great. I made apple crumble with my host mom and the 9 of us who came ate it all and played a form of Catch-Phrase. It was a great time of hanging out together because who knows the next time we'll see them... I also got to play hostess, which is really one of my favorite things to do. As I reflect, I become more and more thankful for my host family situation. God is good. He knew what I needed better than I did, like normal, and provided me with great host parents and Alix... What a great semester!

Last Monday in France...

This weekend was spectacular. I got to spend time with friends and I worked on homework in between packing. The weather has gotten brrrrr cold. Thankfully the sun is out though. Don't think I would be as happy with gray skies and 30 degree temperatures...
Yesterday, I finished my last paper and that was such a liberating feeling. I rewarded myself with watching the most recent episode of "The Office" and that successfully put me in the Christmas mood and not in the academic mood. Backfire.
Today held exams. I can truly say that it was a Monday. We get our grades back on Wednesday, so I'll live in suspense for a while, but I hear that builds character. In the meantime, I'll work on packing (still), homework for January, or hang out with friends because the last week seems to be the time to cram in all the social time possible. Especially because I might never see some of these people again. It's a sobering thought. I have always had that reassurance that I would be back to Taylor or back home, so I've never thought about leaving people for good. I mean, I thought about that a little during senior year at high school, but I basically sprinted with my diploma out of there, so I think this situation is a little different.
On Sunday, I went on a walk around Tours and I think running into a marching band and a show on a street corner created a special place in my heart for this town. I've always enjoyed my life here, but seeing families out and enjoying festivities brought a smile to my face. When one of the bands stopped playing, the members jumped on the bike-carriage things and the trumpet player started playing a little ditty which I heard as I walked down the main cobblestone street and it made my heart sing. The "bonheur" of the town has been the most holiday-like experience I've had in a while... well, since last Christmas. My host parents don't decorate for Christmas because they spend that holiday at their country house, so I've been missing some of that holiday cheer... It's nice to know that I could spend the last few days in France freezing outside with a smile on my pink face.
I love France and I know that I will miss it greatly when I return home.

Who decided to speed up the clock?

Seriously. It seems like just yesterday I was counting down the days, like 35 or something, until I could be home and not have to worry about anything, but now it's down to 7 days. One week from today, I will be finishing the last packing rituals and spending the last evening with my host family.
Today, I went to Chateau de Chenonceau, my favorite castle in all of France. It was decorated in the interior for Christmas, which made it all the more beautiful. We hopped on a train after school and visited the great site for about 3 hours then took a train back to Tours. I would say it was a marvelous experience... Most definitely.
This past week has been a little nostalgic, to say the least. I've been taking my camera with me to the Institute, just in case the opportunity presents itself to take photos. I have been taking some of the interior of the building, because it's not every day that one goes to school in an old royal residence.
I feel like there are a lot of disjointed thoughts in my head... So many things I want to say, but words aren't coming. Being in France has been a little bit of a fight for me. This past Wednesday, we all drew a graph for our personal emotional state throughout the semester and it was interesting to see what other people experienced. The general curve is normally a gradual peak, then a rather rapid descent that doesn't start to come back up until around the time the program ends. I would say that, on average, that is pretty correct. You feel like you're out-of-place with the culture and family and school... but then, you finally create those deeper friendships with people and you know where most of the things are, especially your favorite spots and it's time to leave. I've reached the point where I'm joking around with my host family and being myself... I can't help but feel as though it's in vain. I wish I had started feeling more comfortable earlier. I guess there's nothing I can do about it now.
God has been so gracious during this semester. It's been interesting, and eye-opening to say the least, to see the way the world lives outside of Colorado Springs and little Upland, IN. This is hardly the reflective blog that will most likely come when I've spent some time at home, but it's definitely starting to lean that way, isn't it?
Anyways, I got to make Crumble de Courgettes with my host mom last night for dinner and I'm going to miss that. I've been able to help out in the kitchen a lot more and it's done wonders for my mental health, I think. Not only do I get to talk to my host parents more on a deeper level, but I get to learn more things about food, French food. Just another blessing to add to the ever-growing list. Tonight, Fung is making Chinese food, which I'm totally pumped about because I've never really had legit home-cooked Chinese cuisine. After I'm done watching this, I'm going to go invade the kitchen and just watch. I'll try not to get in the way, but I feel like knowing how to make a true Chinese dish is a cool thing. I got to help a little bit last night when Fung marinated the chicken. He massaged oil, white wine, salt, and pepper into it, so I remember that much. It was fun to help with that, even though I was just pouring ingredients onto the chicken.
Tomorrow will be another academic day... finishing touches on the last paper and studying for my finals on Monday and beginning to review for the test on Wednesday. After Wednesday, I'm done. That will be a big weight off of my shoulders, but I won't be completely at ease until I'm on the plane home from Chicago... Apparently the holidays in France mean "STRIKE" to all the transportation workers. There's rumor that the train stations will go on strike soon and I'm praying and hoping that they hold off until I get to where I need to be. I mean, I love France, but when it's time to go home, it's time to go home!
There will probably be one more blog or so, then I'll be home. Wow. What a thought. Maybe I'll have to make another one... I mean, I am going to London...

Officialement, j'adore le mercredi! ( I officially love Wednesday)

This title makes a lot of sense if you were able to experience the last two Wednesdays that I had. For the entire story, you'll have to read a past post about the whole class becoming animals and so on. Today was a little different. Our teacher had every intention of giving us a sheet of paper for us to reformulate and talk about, but we somehow managed to distract her. We started talking about Christmas. I learned so many things. First of all, Columbia doesn't really believe that Santa gives gifts, so instead of children writing letters to St. Nicholas, they write letters to Baby Jesus. That surprised me... The guy from the Netherlands was convinced that Father Christmas/Santa was an American thing, but turns out, he really is world-wide. In France, children write letters to a certain address and there's an organization that answers the letters! I know! Incredible. I want to be a worker that answers children's letters to Santa! How cute would that be? Seriously! Then, when the guy from the Netherlands was talking about his family Christmas traditions, he said they go to church on Christmas Eve and the guy next to him (who's from Belgium) asked, "What do you do at church? Why would you go there?" It was really funny, but sad at the same time.
Then, we (meaning the Americans) started talking about when Christmas begins, which led to a grand explanation of Black Friday. My teacher was astonished and couldn't get enough... She asked us so many questions and couldn't seem to wrap her head around the fact that we get up at 4am in the morning to wait in line in the freezing cold OUTSIDE of the store in order to run in and get the items that we want. That was fun to explain. The Chinese girl sitting next to me asked me what Thanksgiving was, so then we explained the holiday, yet again, and another American girl pulled out stickers. We passed the stickers around the class and when they reached the Belgian boy, he asked, "What's 'gobble gobble'?" To that, they tried explaining the sound a turkey makes and then I piped up and said that I could make that sound. My teacher then asked me to do it in front of the class... So, I cleared my throat and hoped to God that I could still do it after not making that noise for at least 3 months... and I made the turkey noise. I even got a standing ovation from the Americans. Made my day.
Next, after the Japanese girl explained the Christmas traditions in her country, which are very similar to Valentine's Day, by the way, we started talking about relationships. My prof went around to each person and asked us specifics about our significant other. While I was happy to tell people about my story, I was a little envious of those single people who didn't face the interrogation. So, next Wednesday, we have to bring pictures. Ha. This story has an awkward ending though. My prof asked the nice Korean lady (who shyly said a couple weeks ago when Madame asked our ages that she's "more than 30") said she would rather not say. Madame poked and prodded, even though many of us students piped us and reiterated that the lady didn't want to talk about it. We all felt badly for her and it was kind of a sad way to end the class.
What have I learned from this Wednesday? Well, I have learned that other Christmas traditions are really fun to learn about and I love it. I also was able to talk about Black Friday in French. That was a fun feat. Also, I learned that hearing about other people's relationships only makes me more sappy and desirous to to be home. At the same time, I am content and loving the rainy afternoon where I can sit inside, write a blog and ponder the things that have happened here in France. It seems a little early to be so nostalgic, but I am. Oh France. This December is going to go quickly, isn't it?

Au revoir, Novembre!

I can't believe it's the last day of November! Our program director told us at the beginning of our time in Tours that this month would drag... Well, if this month dragged, then December is going to go lightning speed! I look back at the things that happened, and while a lot of instances were emotionally draining, it was a good month. I continue to be humbled with my lack of French, but I'm also encouraged by the things people say or the things I accomplish. I feel like that is a healthy balance to have.
Thursday was Thanksgiving. That's a pretty obvious statement. Well, it's not obvious here in France. It is not recognized as a holiday and many people asked the Americans at the Institute what the history of the day is and what makes it so great. That was really fun to explain, even though I was in school... just like every other normal day. My Canadian friend was so kind to point out the American flaw- that we back-stabbed the Native Americans. How was I supposed to respond to that in French? Ce n'est pas le cas? Anyways, while it was fun to explain to everyone the joys of my favorite holiday, I was very nostalgic and I was praying for the day to pass quickly and painlessly. My group from BGSU went to "Le Zinc" for a Thanksgiving dinner, which Alan deemed "Frenchsgiving." We ate a three course meal, completely French food, that was a decent substitute. First, we had a beautiful plate of salad and a sausage "gateau" (pictures will go up on facebook when I get a chance). Then came the duck, complimented by a side of potatoes and more salad. For dessert, we had tarte tintin, which is a form of apple tart. Afterwards, we went to the main road to see if the Christmas lights were on. They were not, but it was fun to walk there. The hardest thing about that day was not being with the people who matter the most in my life and knowing that they were celebrating just fine without me. Good lesson in humility, that one.
This week has started to prove a little more academic, and therefore more stressful. Thankful to leave nostalgic emotions at the door, I have plunged myself into research and the French educational system. That's just for one paper. The other is about laïcite (the separation of Church and State in France). Both topics are proving very interesting and time-consuming. My goal is to finish the rough drafts by Wednesday. I think I can, I think I can...
In other news, I have come to hate the French poste. Not only do they lose my letters that I'm supposed to receive, but they refuse to give me my packages the first time I ask for them. For instance, my mother mailed me an envelope with books in it that I'm supposed to read for my January class. My host mom told me on Friday that the Poste called and said that it was there for me to pick up at my convenience. Parfait! So, I went to the Poste after class and talked to the "gentleman" and he said that he wasn't going to give it to me without a paper (and my host mom didn't give me one), even though I had identification papers. He didn't even go check. He said that the package would be in tomorrow, even though I knew it was there. So, I went home dejectedly. I told my host parents this story and they were outraged. Saturday came and my host dad went with me to the Poste to retrieve my package. Thankfully, there is a happy ending to this story and I got my package, but I hope I never have to go back to that place. Those workers can be on strike all they want. "Vous faisez que vous voulez!" (Do as you please)

Une journée bizarre

My day started out extremely well... Got up, put in my contacts, then got on skype at 6am to skype for Jordan's birthday for about 15 minutes. The school day that followed was...well, bizarre is the only word I can think of right now. First of all, my teacher was late. Like 15 minutes late. Then, we somehow distracted her into talking about animals which turned into giving each person in the class an animal "name." For instance, I was a koala. Not sure why, but at least I had a panda bear next to me. The other animals included: a lion, a monkey, a giraffe, a flamingo, a sloth (this is the kid who misses class a lot and said he liked to sleep when we all introduced ourselves on the first day of class), a horse, a manatee, a mouse, a goose, a fox, a tiger, a beaver, and a peacock. Talk about a productive 30 minutes.
Next, we were divided into two groups to "debate" on the problem with TV for the youth, because they're not reading anymore. That turned into an assignment which included all of us assuming personalities on a newscast concerning the problem. We had an anchorman, a psychologist, a child, the parents, and the person responsible for choosing shows for the channels. As you can guess, as is always the case, I was the mother. I was married to the tall guy from the Netherlands, to which, when that was said, we looked at each other and said, "Enchanté." That means "Charmed to meet you." He kept forgetting the child's name, so I had to remind him and then they all decided that she wasn't really his daughter. So, not only did I get married today, but I was also unfaithful to my "husband" who yells at me and tells me I'm nothing. After being a koala. What a day.
It's these kinds of days that make me wonder why I go to class at all, but they also remind me what great things can happen when people go to class. We accomplished nothing today, except I think I made new friends with some people in my class. That's always a worthwhile experience, right?

The Excursion with the Apocalypse

This Saturday, my school group went first to Saumur (which we could only see the outside of because a couple years ago a wall crumbled and they've been restructuring ever since...)and that was grand. Alan ran down the hill because he was excited and slipped and fell in the muddy grass. That was exciting. Later, we went to Angers, where there is a castle and the tapestry depicting the Apocalypse. That was super interesting. I had brushed up on Revelation a little bit before going and it was really cool to look at the illustrations (and funny because all the characters were in period clothing... like one guy had two different colored shoes on because that was the style back then). There, I got to experience one of the most sanitary experiences I've ever had in my life: the French public toilet. It cost 20 centimes, but it was so worth it. You put the coin in and then the door slowly opens and then you go in, then the door slowly closes. Afterwards, you push the button to open it and then once you've exited, it closes and then completely washes the inside with water. It's so amazing.
All that being said, it was a great excursion even with the rain. This past weekend was also a sad weekend. Alix left Sunday around noon for Paris and it still feels like she's here. That sounds incredibly sappy, but it's true. I really wish I could hop on a train and go up to Paris to visit her... but alas, I do not have sufficient funds. That will have to wait when I come back to Europe and I can visit her in Belgium. At the same time, I've been talking with Fung a lot more lately and that has been extremely interesting. Our conversations vary from TV shows, to relationships to religion to country differences... it's been great. God has used a lot of those situations to open up times to talk about him and I feel like I often fall short, but I know God will use me anyways.
With Thanksgiving coming up in the States, it's hard for me to remain positive over here where this Thursday is just like any other Thursday... I'll be fine and I'll definitely make it, but I'll spend some time thinking of eating sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie and turkey and cranberry sauce and seeing family and friends. All in due time, I suppose. The group of us are going out to eat at a French restaurant, so I'll be eating duck when most of the US is getting up on Turkey Day. That's a fun thought :)
I had more to write, but I forgot... I'll have to include more when I write my next entry...
I miss all of you and I'm counting the days!

On to another chapter - The month where everything changes

I have 30 days left here. 30 more and only 30. I have mixed feelings about this number. It means that I have less than a month in a country that I'm truly growing to love and yet I am close to being home with the people who matter the most. I feel like it's almost a no-win situation. I'm sure there are a lot of things that would make it a win-win, but for the sake of emphasis, I won't mention them in this blog. ;)
I've been able to help my host mom bake/cook, which has been absolutely amazing. I forgot that being in the kitchen does wonders for my mental health. Last night, Alix and I helped Mme Anne make a tarte aux pommes that she had made for Alix's birthday a little over a month ago. Then, I "helped" Alix make a dish from Belgium. Both were extremely delicious and the recipes are in my possession. Today, when I got home from school, my host mom asked if I wanted to help make the gateau chocolat that she normally puts in my lunch when I go on excursions. Everyone in my group loves my host mom because she gives me this huge "cake" and I share it. I was thrilled to learn how to make it! I also learned a couple of other things, like how to make meringue. Who would have guessed that I would learn how to make meringue when making French brownies? Not me, that's for sure. I hope that I can continue helping in the kitchen for my last month here and I can accumulate more "recettes" before I leave. I'm planning on making an American meal for my family as well, but I'm wavering on what I should make. I think I'll end up making cheese enchiladas because it's one fo the things that has least amount of ingredients that I have to convert from American to metric... I'm lazy, I know.
Last night was Alix's last meal with us... she'll be leaving on Sunday and I'm already really sad. She's been a lot of fun and has helped me so much in finding things to do and places to go. I hope that this is not the last time I get to see her. I'm hoping someday in the near future to go visit her in Belgium and then maybe have her come to the US and stay with me so I can "learn her the love of the West" as she put it. I thank God for this period of 6 weeks that we lived together.
Also, with these last few weeks, I realize that I have a lot of work to do. Papers, tests, reading, other goals... the list goes on. Does that motivate me to go do them? Not necessarily. :) I think this last month will feel more like Taylor (academic wise) than it ever has, which could be a good thing. Different, but good.
Tomorrow, the BGSU group travels to Angers to see the tapestry that depicts the book of Revelation. I'm really excited about that and the conversations over lunch were really interesting when others were referring to it. I believe someone asked if "what's-his-face was on crack when he wrote it"... and I think my jaw almost dropped to the floor. Oh the things people say. Needless to say, tomorrow will be interesting in more than one aspect. We'll also be visiting Saumur, which is a small town that has yet another chateau. :)
I'm so thankful for weekends!
P.S. The first jar of peanut butter is almost gone. I fail at rationing.

The Ups and Downs of November

Today, I was searched by a security guard at a grocery store because he thought I made the alarm go off when I entered. Let me emphasize this: WHEN I ENTERED. He took my umbrella, waved it in the path of the censor, then my bag, then motioned for me to do the same. When no beep occurred, he then turned to my friend and asked her to do the same. I said she wasn't walking with me (which was a half-truth... because she didn't walk in the door with me, but try explaining that to a large black Frenchman), so he let her go. I explained to him that I didn't know what was going on and he reluctantly let me go. Do I look like a shoplifter who can steal things with my eyes and put them into my umbrella before I enter a store? I feel like that's an honest question.
On the other end, there have been a lot of good things that have happened since last week. For instance, midterms produced a three-day weekend, which was very much appreciated. I did nothing. Well, I found ways to be productive and go on walks, but I didn't really go anywhere or do anything academic and that was fantastic. I've been "munching" (more like nibbling) on my peanut butter and other goodies that were in the box from my wing at Taylor and that has been wonderful. Although, at this point, I think it might make me a little more homesick than I was before.
But, another perk is that midterms are done... and I didn't fail them. I didn't do well enough to advance, but that's fine. The good news is that I got a higher writing score than I have ever before. I was super excited about that. And I didn't do as badly on my oral as I thought... God is good. Now I need to fine tune things and we'll be good to go for the final at the end of the trimester. That's going to include a lot of time in the mediatheque (the library where all the media is) and less time speaking in English. I think I'll be ok with that because I can always type in English, right? ;)
My host mom is currently visiting her new grandson in Luxembourg, so it's just us students and the host dad. Yesterday was fun because my host dad left the classical music on all day (instead of just during meals) and he was playing with his iPhone at the table because he wanted to tell me what the temperature was in Colorado Springs and wanted to show me my house via "Googal Erts" (That's how he says it). I have a feeling that things will be very relaxed around here until she returns. As soon as she returns though, Alix leaves for her second internship in Paris... This makes me sad because I will be loosing a friend. That sounds dramatic, I know, but she kept me going during the weekends, with things to do and places to go... now I'll have to do those types of things alone... I doubt I'll be able to find someone who can replace her. Thanksgiving is coming up as well, which will be a new phenomenon for me- Going to class on Thanksgiving. And Thursdays are my least favorite days. Well, besides Monday and Tuesday ;) I don't think that holiday will feel quite the same.

It's beginning to feel a lot like... Noël?

No, but seriously. It is beginning to feel like the holidays. Every time I step out of the front door, I breathe out a cloud of air and inhale the cold fumes of cars. While the fumes are not so pleasant, I thoroughly enjoy the transition from fall to winter. Normally I become a little depressed when the trees start to shed their colors and stand bare in the cold, but France must have different trees. For some reason, they don't look quite as sad or forlorn. There are some trees that still have their leaves. Just the other day, I was sitting at a café with some friends and I realized that the trees across from us had the greenest leaves... as if it were summer or spring! This brings me to the conclusion that France air is different.
Today, I walked into a paper store and discovered a gold mine. Not only were there stacks upon rows of paper and cardstock, but there was a cornucopia of art supplies (I just really wanted to use that word because it reminds me of Thanksgiving). I felt like I had walked into a sophisticated Hobby Lobby... I didn't want to leave. After wandering around for a little while, I decided to mosey on over to the cassier (cashier) and as I was waiting in line, I heard Bing Crosby on the radio... I can't help but think of Christmas when I hear that man's silky voice.
Yesterday, I was studying in my room and I had my iTunes on shuffle. It went to a Joy Williams song "Here With Us" which is one of my favorite Christmas songs... so I broke down and listened to it ten times in a row. Yes. I know, I should be ashamed, but I figured that since I'll be in France where there is no Thanksgiving and the Christmas themes are coming out in stores that I was allowed to start listening to sleigh bells and holiday cheer. The only thing missing is a pumpkin spice latte.
I made it through my first day of exams... these are only midterms, but they're still a good taste as to what I'll be facing for my final exams. After lunching with mes amis, I went home and discovered a box on my desk, kindly addressed to me from my dear Alyce and company. They sent me peanut butter, dried mango, and other assorted things and hand-written notes. All of it made me so happy! I want to just read them over and over and laugh... Although my host family might wonder why I laugh so much in my room, so I'll try to spread it out over the rest of my time here (37 days or so).

Hello, Middle of the Trimester! When'd you get here?

I feel like time is beginning to spin out of control! So many things coming at me and it's getting a little hectic in my head! I'm no longer just focusing on things here, but now I'm working on planning for this January and then spring semester and student teaching next fall... And I'm thankful I'm in France, but coordinating all these things would be so much easier if I was in the US. I guess I'll just be thankful that I can be stressed out in a different language. Yeah. That sounds fun. :)
As midterms approach, I find myself preoccupied with a different feeling. Normally, this is about the time when I gather all my notes and review them vigorously because I haven't looked over them enough... But now, with my French courses, I find that I am unable to do that. My tests will be oral/written comprehension and production. That means that I have 4 different tests that I can't really study for... All I can do is hope and pray that my ears and brain work on Thursday and that my mouth works on Friday morning.
Today is Armistice Day, so we don't have school. I used that as an excuse to "faire une grasse matinée" meaning I slept in. Yes. I slept in. Until 9:30am. Success! I am procrastinating in doing some French things, because as soon as I immerse myself, I have a feeling I won't come out in a long time. It's like: Ready, get set, get-all-the-English-out-of-your-system, GO! I'm sure it won't be as bad as I'm making it sound, but I really want to perform better than I have been on tests.
We all went on an excursion this past Saturday to Chateau de Chinon, where Joanne d'Arc was held by the king... and learned a bunch of that history. It was an amazing castle, but like most castles from the 11th century, it is mostly ruins. There were quite a few towers that were intact and that we climbed the stairs in. For example, we would run into the tower and I decided to run up the stairs and then run down to the lowest level... periodically reminding my friends that I love stairs... It was great. But all silliness aside, it was really interesting to think about the towers being functional in times of war. What would it have been like to be Joanne d'Arc? What an intimidating time!
We also visited another Abbey, one that was used more specifically for the royalty. For instance, Louis XV sent his daughters from Versailles to study with then nuns at this abbey. Talk about fixing a spoiled child! It was rather cold, but very beautiful. It was actually a prison from the time of Napoleon III to 1960. Weird, huh? That wasn't that long ago. The sanctuary was transformed into 5 floors of dormitories for the inmates. That blew my mind! I was also a little in awe of being so close to Richard the Lionhearted... I felt like I should have been Robin Hood or Maid Marian (or however you spell her name). I felt the same way when we were at Chinon because it was also during that time with Richard and Prince John. Oh man. I love history!
Our last stop was a small town (I forget the name) that was very picturesque and we climbed a pathway that led us to the top of a hill where we could see the entire town and the beautiful autumn colors. We must have been pretty tired, because then we decided it was a good idea to speak in French with English accents, which then turned into English accents with random French words thrown in, then just English accents, then the Irish crept in, along with the Scottish and a little bit of everything. This went on for at least 2 hours. I feel kind of bad for everyone else on the bus...
There aren't any excursions planned this weekend, but I'm thinking I'll be going to Samur with Alix because it's my last free weekend while she's here because she's leaving on the 22nd of November. I'm really going to miss her when she's gone... We're going to have quite the full house for the next two weeks... Fung has a friend coming and staying for a week, then Alix's boyfriend's family is coming to visit and take her up to Paris for the next part of her internship. Crazy.

Thank you for a freaky Halloween.

I'm sitting next to my window at my desk, watching the rain fall. It began about an hour ago and my host mom says it's here to stay. So long, sunshine. So long, blue skies. So long, dry shoes.
I thought this weekend would be a nice relaxing "do nothing" weekend... which it has been pretty much, but it definitely had things that I did not expect.
1. My friend and I walked into a health store on Friday afternoon when we were walking back from getting some tea at Place Plume... Apparently they don't sell nail files at health food stores. Wish I had known we were looking for that before we had walked in...
2. I went exploring a little bit yesterday with Abbey and we got some great errands accomplished. But we also saw a group of about 10 French teenagers, all dressed up like Joker in the scene when he's visiting Twoface in the hospital, uttering cries and mumbling as they stumbled down the main streets together, all chained together. That was disturbing. I almost crossed the street, but Abbey pointed out that we could just walk around them on the sidewalk.
3. So, After that episode, I realized that Halloween is celebrated among the young. Therefore, when we went to a pub for a free concert last night, I should have expected costumes. And I did... I just didn't expect to see dozens of Michael Jacksons wandering around. I had no idea that the free "concert" was "l'hommage" of MJ and that they were all cover songs. Looking around, I noticed that us Americans were dressed normally and all the French people were decked out in Halloween costumes. I felt a little silly.
4. I reaffirmed why I don't drink. While the band was taking a break, we were all standing outside and we saw a group of people huddled around this guy... Apparently they're all friends, but this one guy was obviously completely drunk. He couldn't stand up without help and then one of his friends stood in front of him, holding his shoulders. Abbey and I kind of winced whenever we glanced over at those two because the drunk one looked like he was going to throw up at any minute. I wanted to go over there and say, "Hey. I'm glad you're here for your friend, but why don't you be here for him BEHIND him so you don't get vomit in your mouth, ok?" But thankfully we didn't see any of that happen. There was also a small child running around. Why is there a small child in a bar full of drunk youths?
5. I went to church this morning and it took about 30 minutes to walk there. I left my house at 10:10am... service started at 10:30. Good planning, Bridget. So, I walk into the church and I have no idea how to get to the sanctuary, so I kind of meander around the foyer until two other people come and then, in order to avoid being embarrassed, I opened the door marked "temple" and found myself in the back of a very small sanctuary where a small congregation was singing praise songs. I was so thankful...because I was bracing myself for the worst... like popping out onto the stage during a baptism or something. The church was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be, but it was nice.
Halloween produced a freaky weekend... unexpected, but not all in negative ways. I did, however, miss watching "Arsenic and Old Lace" with my mom and talking about how great Cary Grant was... Oh well. Next time, maybe.

As the fall weather comes to a close

Today, my host mom told me that we would see the sun and then winter would visit us permanently. This made me sad and all the more determined to go on a nice walk. I dragged another girl along with me and she didn't want to go at first, but I refused to sit down until we were on the island. After that wonderful excursion, we went to Place Plume where all the students go to hang out and we got some tea. I ordered us some thé vanille (vanilla tea, for those who need clarification). I knew it was good because I had some the last time I was in Belgium. That was like the icing on the cake. Spending the last of the autumn weather with a cup of tea was poetic and relaxing.
This week was great. I'm not exactly sure what made it so great, but it was and I'm glad that it was. The weather was fantastic and school went pretty well. My teacher has been sick for the past two days, so we've had a sub and she's been great. I was completely lost when we were doing grammar exercises for the relative pronouns, so she worked with me for 45 minutes after class and I finally understand a little bit more :) I'm just proud of myself for piping up and saying something! haha.
I really miss Alix, though. She left for Belgium for the weekend on Wednesday due to her sister's birthday and it's been quite boring without her. I found out yesterday that there will be another student moving in here on Monday- he's Chinese and he's a level 1 French student at the Institute (beginner) and that's all I know. I'm trying to fix my attitude because now there will be three people sharing a bathroom... I know I'm spoiled, so I guess this will help me become a better person. Maybe. ;)
My host mom's mother is here visiting for the weekend, which made dinner really fun because I just got to listen and then we started talking about languages and I actually didn't stumble for word choices as much as I usually do. We also talked about blueberries and cranberries. They actually don't have cranberries in France, so I became a little saddened for the French because they will never know the wonders of cranberry orange juice or cranberry bread... or anything like that. But they have other things that the US doesn't, so I guess it all levels out in the end.
I'm loving being here in France and each new day brings things to learn and people to encounter. One thing that I'm not too fond of is the French way of shopping for clothes. Example: I was looking at some sweaters the other day in a store (which was much smaller than a normal American clothing store... Picture a shop a little bigger than a nail salon with as many clothes as a department store has in its women's section. Talk about crowded. Then, you have the French people who like to stand in the middle of the isle and look at something for a long time, maybe try it on... they don't care if you need to get by them, so you just mutter "Pardonnez-moi" and push past them. I felt really rude the first time I did it, but it was either do that or wait 10 minutes while the lady tried the shirt on in front of me. Yes. Shopping is much different here.
I'm going to have a nice weekend, full of going to a garden full of animals, then maybe a concert on Saturday. Sunday, I'm hoping to find the church that other Taylor students have gone to and then do homework/study... and I feel like I was going to do something else, but I forget it... Oh well.
All I have to say, as nice a week as it was, I'm very grateful for a weekend!

I feel like I should have been in a movie...

There are a few times in people's lives when the situation grants itself as prime material for a screen play. I feel as if there were several moments like that in the past couple days.

The big thing is France is to be able to speak the beautiful language PERFECTLY. Exhibit A: At least 2 lab sessions emphasizing the nasal phonetics: [a], [o], and [e]. We had been working on this one exercise for about 40 minutes on the second day (today) when I realized that it was exactly like something I had seen in a movie. Not only were we saying random sounds that sounded pretty much the same, but we didn't really have an idea what we were doing... I started laughing and the girl next to me asked, "Why are you laughing? What just happened?" and I asked her, "Have you seen My Fair Lady?" to which she responded, "No... Don't think so..." And I said, "Oh, well, when you see that movie, you'll understand why repeating sounds over and over again is funny." Normally I'm not that happy after Lab because I realize I can't pronounce things just like a French native, but I practically skipped out of the room today because I was Eliza Doolittle for an hour.

Saturday was an excursion day to St. Savin (abbey with Europe's oldest fresco), Angles-s-l'Anglin(castle ruins and weird exhibit), and a functioning abbey. The day began at 6:30am for me... We all left the corner of the boulevard around 8am to our first destination. Two hours later, we pull up to the first abbey. That was great and interesting... but the best part of this stop was when they closed down the exhibit while we were still in there. The lights turned off suddenly and we were all wondering who had broken something when our director said, "And it's lunch time in the abbey..." We left, needless to say, and our next destination was the really cool castle ruins and a rather strange exhibit that talked about the development of language and cave people... The castle was incredible though. I felt like I should have been Susan from The Chronicles of Narnia because the ruins were right on the river... it was really cool. After this town, we went to an abbey and eventhough we didn't really get to be tourists there, we went to a shop where they sell all the things that the monks make and that was really interesting. There was anything from soap, candy, jam, beer, and religious items. I felt like I should have either been in Robin Hood or some Redwall novel.

Sunday was probably my favorite day yet, though, while I've been here in Tours. Alix and I took a bike ride along the banks of the Cher River to Villandry. The trip was a 42 km round trip (translates to about 26.5mi) adventure on a relatively flat path full of beautitul sights and good conversation. There were a couple times, like when we were leaving Tours, that I thought "Oh man, I'm going to be really sore tomorrow..." But yesterday's tomorrow has come and almost gone and I can say that I'm not unbearably sore. It's a great feeling and I wish I had a bike for longer (I had to return it this morning before class which was another adventure). Once we found the right trail and got going, I felt like I could breathe and relax and be myself. This is probably the first time I've felt this way since leaving the US. There was a point where Alix and I stopped and we just listened to the silence of nature as the sun came out from the clouds, creating sparkling ripples in the Cher River... It's one of those moments that will forever remain in my memory because the combination of sights and smells and emotions can't be justified on paper or in written words.
The trip to the castle took about 2 hours because we got lost a couple times at the beginning and then we stopped for pictures a lot. When we reached Villandry, we were having trouble walking. Between the two of us, Saturday had been a very tiring day, so once we hobbled into the shop to buy our tickets, we were wondering if this had been the best decision. After walking around for 30 minutes, we found the Sun Garden where we plopped down on the edge of the fountain and ate our picnic. I think we sat there for about 30 mintues just soaking up the sun and watching the people come through and look at us. We ended up leaving the gardens pretty quickly after that because we were tired (Well, after I introduced Alix to the grapevines and she ate a good number of 'em) and we went to Savonnier to look for a café that wasn't too touristy. We found one and drank some espresso. The trip back only took an hour. I don't know how that happened... Maybe it was the espresso... But it was great. There were parts when I felt like I should have been Anne Shirley... riding her bike through the woods of Avonlea... and then I felt like I should have been in The Sound of Music.

I know I've said that I should have been in a lot of movies, but don't worry. I'm not comparing all aspects of my life to someone else's script. I'm perfectly happy in my own life movie because I get a hodge-podge of everything :) And I don't have to worry about my salary. haha.

More interesting everday things

So, I know I wrote one yesterday, but I just had to write another one today to share some things that just amuse my mind while puzzle it at the same time.

1. Today, a Chinese student in my class was trying to say that he was going to walk somewhere late at night (to which our teacher had a strong opinion that he was "fou" or "stupid/crazy") but it was ok because he has a friend who bought a gun. He proceeded to talk about how his friend bought the gun and that he walks around with it and that it isn't dangerous. The entire class was cracking up in disbelief. It took a while to get it out, but he was actually talking about an airsoft gun. We still had a hard time explaining that to our prof, but I think I will forever remember this guy trying to explain why guns aren't dangerous...

2. My classmate who is from Canada was sitting next to me and she asked me if I had any gum. I said sure thing and pulled out my Trident gum. She was like "Is this American gum???" And I looked at her, kind of confused, and said, "Yeah... Why?" She said, "Oh, nothing... It's just Hollywood gum." Wait. Hold on. Hollywood gum? Wow. For those of you who don't know, buy Trident gum because it apparently is the gum of stars.

3. I went to the post office today to track down some letters that have taken forever to get to me and I noticed that the post offices in France are very different than the ones in the US. For instance, it's set up much more like a bank that I thought I had walked into the wrong building for a second. Also, the "tellers" were feeling up the packages that people were trying to send out, making sure that the customer was telling the truth about the contents. That made me laugh because I was sure that this one teller was going to refuse to send a package for this girl. I was then scared because the same mail-miser called me to his desk and I tried to explain to him that I had been waiting for about a month for some letters from the US... That was interesting. He ended up explaining the postal system to me... I felt about 10 years old. Thank you, France. Needless to say, there is nothing you can do about missing mail.

4. I have one French prof who never comes to class on time. I would be ok with that, except for the fact that most of the class is there, waiting for her... and she keeps us 10, 15, sometimes 20 minutes late. She's crazy and I enjoy being in her class, but I also enjoy my time away from school. This is the same prof who has a mustache. She picks relentlessly on a guy from Belgium, who has been nickname "Mignon Garçon" (Cute boy) by a Chinese girl in my class. This is the same class that all the crazy stories come from (the gun and the face decorations). Thank heaven that this class is interesting because it's normally during the time when my body just wants to sleep.

5. This last item isn't funny, but it definitely grabbed my attention. Alix, who works in the prenatal section of the hospital here in Tours for the 6 weeks she's here, told me on Monday about some of the things she got to do that day. Among the great stories of hearing about births and then her boredom with C-sections, she shared that she saw/had to assist with abortions. That broke my heart. There are so many things that people do not understand about life, I think. Alix told me of this lady that was there for her 4th abortion... She already has 4 children and the lady is 24 years old. This was the discussion at the dinner table that night and, while everyone at the table was prolife, it was really sad to think about. I was very surprised because I hadn't even heard of such things in the US happening, except for in special clinics. I wouldn't be surprised now if these things happen in American hospitals...

So, needless to say, I'm learning a lot here. I'm sure I'll include more misunderstandings later. I think my host parents' son is here from New York, so I'm looking forward to the dinner conversation tonight... I really want to see if he has a New York accent when he speaks English. We'll see. Still really looking forward to it!

"But you don't eat acorns..."

This is what my host mom said to me at dinner last night after I tried to explain the different kinds of squash to her. Now, for me, squash is a big deal and I understand that a lot of Americans don't even know what the differences are between a spaghetti squash and a butternut squash, but trying explaining those to someone in French, where those words don't even exist. Let's back up a step so you can fully get the impact of what happened:
Last night, we were talking about Halloween and how it's not celebrated in France... And Alix piped up and said that she loved the round orange things, as she started motioning her hands in the air in circular motions. I just looked at her and my host parents were like, "Oh! Poitrons!" (Translation: Pumpkins) And I died a little inside that they don't fully get to appreciate the pumpkin... Then, I was further surprised when my host mom started talking about a "poitron" that her friend had given her. She turned to me and said in her very thick French accent (spelled how she said it) "booterrenut" and I was like "Oh! Butternut squash! I love that!" They asked me if it was the same as a pumpkin, so then I had to explain that there were different kinds of squash (and we didn't know the word for squash at the time so they kept using "poitron"). I brought up the acorn squash because it is one of my favorite things to eat during the fall and I didn't know the word for acorn in French, so this is what the conversation looked like
I said: "It's like a seed that grows on a tree..."
Host Mom: "Like a flower?"
Me: "Not really... more like a nut"
Host Dad: "Like a coconut?"
Me: "Nooo... It's small... and I don't know what tree it comes from..."
(So my host dad grabs the dictionary and he looks up "acorn" and finds the word)
Host Dad: "It comes from the maple tree..."
Host Mom: "But you don't eat acorns. They're really bitter and hard."
Me: "Right. That's just the name of the squash."
Host Mom: "So it's just a name?"

So many of our conversations are like that... Things that I try to explain and it ends up being a game of twenty questions with the dictionary. The funnest part about this whole conversation would be the literal translation of what we were calling the squash:
"pumpkin of spaghetti" and "pumpkin of acorn" and "pumpkin of butternut"
Needless to say, it was hard for me to keep a straight face during that time.

I now now the correct word for squash: "une courge"

Feel sadly for the French during Halloween next week when they continue living life as normal and they do not begin to see ornamental "courge" appearing everywhere.

A couple more fun language incidents that have happened to me this week:
1. On Sunday, I was trying to talk to Alix about the train station, but kept mispronouncing the word and ending up saying things like "Let's go back to the war and check the times" or "Is there a bathroom at the war?"or "What time did we leave the war?"

2.I was trying to tell my host mom that we learned terms for body parts in class on Monday and I ended up saying we learned different parts of the heart, which was partly true... and then later I mixed that word up with the word for a main street...

3. Today, a Chinese guy was trying to describe why it's dangerous to meet people you don't know because they can don disguises and follow you and instead of using "make-up" or "disguise," he used the word "decoration" which means to literally have decorations on your face... It was hysterical.

Good thing God gave human beings a sense of humor.

Yet another weekend passes

As I said in my last post, this weekend was a much needed change-of-pace. Saturday included sleeping in a little and then going out to the various markets with Alix (I know how to spell her name now) and then coming back for lunch, then I sat down to work on homework. Alix, on the other hand, (lucky girl) took her bike that she's renting around the town. I stayed in and that was nice, but trying to work on a presentation about pollution was not. I was up to my ears in articles about noise pollution, so much so that I was starting to believe that it was the noise of cars that was killing all the endangered species of frogs in Canada! Yes. There actually was an article about that.
Sunday, Alix and I went to Amboise and it was a little more expensive than I would have liked, but it was still really fun. I had visited there before (two years ago) and it was nice to go around at our own pace and visit the house where Leonardo DaVinci lived and did a lot of his work. That was probably the highlight of my weekend. The gardens surrounding the "chateau" were incredible... much like something you would see in an American park, with woods and pathways around bodies of water... much less organized than French gardens... But I loved it. The sun came out after a while and Alix and I picniced there... So incredible. We then had quite a dilemma as to when we should return because I didn't want to return too late, so we went back to the train station, looked at the times, found out that we had an hour to kill, so we traversed the bridge to "Ile d'Or" (literally translated "Gold Island") to walk around for a little while... But there wasn't really anything there. After that, we finally got back to Tours and went out for coffee and a pastery at a café that my director had deemed as one of the "temples" in Tours, basically meaning that it was one of the best patisseries EVER. And it was incredible. The most incredible things about it were the amount of money it cost to refuel my body AND that I was so desperately needing caffeine and sugar in order to keep going that the cost didn't even phase me in the moment.
So, I've been preparing for a presentation, right? And I've been trying to make sure that all the people knew what they were doing... aka I was stressing, but what's new.... So, this morning, we had the exposé and one of the group members who wasn't in class on Thursday or Friday (but I emailed them the info on Weds night) said he didn't get the email, so he "opted out" of the presentation. Whaaaat? I didn't know that was an option! What is all that about? Needless to say, I was rather upset and I had to try and wing it so that the information he was supposed to cover was covered... I'm just glad it's over. Not the best way to start a week... but not the worst...
My host parents are huge Bridge players... They have been playing it every day for almost a week. Saturday night, Mme Anne made dinner for Alix and I early because they were having the Bridge game over here... Then they played Bridge all of yesterday... And then, because I'm home for a little while before I go back to class, I come into them playing Bridge AGAIN with all their friends... I think this would be called "Obsession" but I don't mind. It's nice to see that they love having people around and that they hang out with friends a lot, even if it's during a card game.
Tonight I hope to go to Café des Langues, which is where people go to work on their language skills. I hope that I can meet some French people and hang out with them and just relax. I thought that it would be relatively easy to relax here, and it is if you know what you're doing, but don't count on lunch time for relaxation because apparently that's the time when everyone talks about what is wrong with their host families and what they're not happy with and how dangerous the streets are... I felt like I needed a therapy session after today's lunch... Agh. No thanks. If that keeps up, I might be having my own solitary confinement for lunchtime, thank you.

Alright. Off to class...

Brrrr... I didn't know Jack Frost lived in France!

This week was pretty much a normal week... still an insomniac, but learning to cope. Classes become a little more difficult every day. For instance, I received a test back on Monday that I took on Friday and I was pretty sure that I needed to drop down a level. After talking with my prof, I felt like I needed to stay in this level just to prove to him that I'm not a wimp. I think it will be better in the long run anyways.
I went out a lot this weekend... Friday, Saturday, and Monday night... And then I became a home-body. Nothing wrong with that, but it's weird to think it's Friday again and that I get to do all that stuff again. A group of people are going to a discotechque tomorrow night (equivalent of a club) and I have already decided that I am not going. Not sure what I'll do instead, but I'm sure I can come up with something.
Wednesday is when the cold weather hit. First of all, I'm not used to hearing the temperature referred to in Celcius yet, so when people say it's almost 0 outside, I start panicking because I did not pack for that kind of weather... Then I realize that it's only 32 degrees Fahrenheit and I can handle that. The morning was fine and beautiful... much like a normal fall day and we even sat outside for lunch... but the day became colder as it progressed and we woke up Thursday morning to our first frost. Now, unlike in the States where you crank up your heaters and you cuddle up in warm clothes when you get home, I get home from a cold drafty building where I have classes, shiver into slippers and another sweater, and try desperately to think warm thoughts. One night, while I was trying to sleep, the only thing I could think of is how my nose is going to be permenantly cold for the rest of my time in France... It made me think of that one episode of Winnie the Pooh where Piglet has a nose warmer and it goes missing. Well people, my nose warmer has gone missing! Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic... and I know where I need to look... but unfortunately there's an ocean inbetween us.
I don't think I took my coat off the entire time I was away from the house for the past two days... But I am thankful for colder weather though. For instance: the plethora of smokers that stand right outside of the gates at the Institute has decreased significantly. Also, I can wear the same top two days in a row and no one will know (I changed my scarf...). Also, I come into class looking rosy-cheeked. My cheeks might be half frozen, but they at least look healthy. Also, you are that much more thankful when you enter a warm room.
I'm just thankful that the colder weather has not been accompanied by rain yet... Being wet and cold is completely different than just being cold. Tomorrow is going to be about the same temperature and Alex and I are planning on hitting up some of the markets around town... I hope that we don't freeze... But I think we're planning on stopping in at least one café to get coffee. (Thank you God that she loves coffee!)
I am getting really homesick, but God has been good in providing people to talk to (most recently Alyce, Jordan and Mom). I'm trying hard to get past the stress of school and homesickness, but that just seems to be the stage I am in. I'm really looking forward to this weekend!

Thoughts of an Insomniac

So, for the past two nights, I haven't been able to get to sleep until 2:30am... Two years ago... well, even one year ago, that would be normal. Now, not so much. So many things going on in my head and I think my body just wants to make things more adventurous for me, so I guess we're trying sleep deprivation...
There's a new "student" living next to me. My Lybian friend moved into his own apartment yesterday and a couple hours later, Alex, a Beglian girl, arrived. When I saw her, I seriously thought I saw someone from Taylor, but the only place Alex has ever been in the US is New York, so it's obviously not her. Today, we went out and explored because she needed to find the hospital and some other things because she's here for a practicum of sorts at the hospital for 6 weeks before moving on to Paris. It was great to hang out with her and speak French, although the getting frustrated and her asking me to just say what I was trying to say in English wasn't so much... I have a feeling we'll get along pretty well. I feel much more at ease this week in my host family's house... I don't know if that's because I have gotten used to life here a little more or if Alex's presence has helped that much. I dunno.
I'm so excited about the things that God is going to do in the next 10 weeks... I know that some things are going to be hard, but the beauty is that there is always an end to it and that God is there to hold my hand through those times. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to talking in English only as a last resort. I'm taking a vow of French, if you will. I figure that because I'm only here for 10 more weeks, and it is therefore impossible to become fluent, I would give it all I got to try and become as fluent as possible... We'll see how this goes.
So, as far as thoughts go, I have learned a couple of things after my sleepless nights and I thought that I should write them down here:
1. When you are going to go on a long walk, don't wear new shoes. Even though you might be in Europe and you bought new shoes, you're setting yourself up for some nice blisters. Have fun with those.
2. When you are trying to find a shop, make sure that you look all the way around you... like a 360 scan... that might prevent 20 minutes of walking in circles. Looking up from the map helps a lot.
3. It's completely normal over here for people to know more than 3 languages... My Belgian friend speaks Flemish, French, English, Italian, and a little bit of German. I felt very small after I found that out.
4. If you are a resident of France and you are caught speeding in any other country, you have to pay up front when the police pull you over. However, if you are in Spain and the "police" that try to pull you over are not in a marked car, don't stop. They're not police, they're theives. I learned this at the dinner table tonight.
5. The French version of grilled cheese sandwiches puts the American version to shame. It's like this: the perfect fluffy omlete next to burnt scrambled eggs.
6. The French have a different version of a zoo... There's a garden close to my house that has animals in "habitats" in it and there's no entrance fee. And just because there's a sign that says "DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS," the French like to share their wonderful bread with them... And the bear looked very sad in his concrete pad... I think it needs a hug.
7. My host father asked me what Obama had done to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and all I could give him was a blank look. I've had other international people ask me the same question... I'll blame my inability to respond on my lack of political vocabulary...

Ok. So, after that wonderful wisdom, maybe I've shared enough information to help me sleep. I don't know. We'll see.
A bientôt!

Ne me mange pas! (Don't eat me!)

I feel like this title is appropriate for numerous reasons, the first and foremost being that I yelled it during lunch today at my friend because she was yelling at me...

But it is really more fitting to use this phrase for the course that I landed in... It's a pretty intense level and I don't know what I got myself into. I was really happy to see the nice number next to my name when I looked at the list on Tuesday morning. It was like seeing that you made one of the lead roles. That's how happy I was. Then, I realized that with great numbers comes great loads of homework and expectations. The past few days were easy... Just talking and getting comfortable with the profs, but now I'm quaking in my shoes. Tomorrow, we have a "petit test" on some verb tenses and I have not reviewed these particular verb tenses in a long time... yeah, guess what I've been doing for at least 2 hours... I'm experiencing what we would call "Little Fish in a Big Pond." Not only I am near the bottom of my class as far as background knowledge goes, but I'm realizing that I actually have to work! I know! Those of you who know me at Taylor know that I never really put as much time into my French homework as I should have, but it was enough to get decent grades. Here, for the first time in about 4 years, I have to apply myself to this language thing. That's a daunting task... to keep with the fish analogy, I feel like I'm looking at this hook and I've got to find a way to get the worm off without getting caught and killed. I know that seems really dramatic, but these are big things in a fish's life, ok?

In other news, I've enjoyed no homework (up until today...) and being able to write a plethora of letters to various people and walk around the town that is my current home. I have yet to explore every part, but I'm going to try to get that checked off my to-do list soon. I've already found some of my favorite grocery stores. That should be no surprise to anyone who knows me. I, however, have not found my favorite café yet... The thing about that is that I'm scared to go there and do something wrong and never be able to come back... Ungrounded, but paralyzing nonetheless. Maybe that will be next week's hurdle. My my... so many things to do and hanging over my head... again, another reason why the title to this entry had to be what it is.

Just a couple of funny things before I surrender myself back to homework and studying:
-I accidentally set the table with the dessert knifes yesterday and my host parents thought that was the funniest thing ever.
-One of my teachers has a mustache. She's really animated and likes to wear low shirts... you can make that mental picture.
-I'm scared to go to a certain cathedral because a guy started talking to me there and he wouldn't leave me alone, so I'm paranoid that he'll try and find me there again...
-I wake up on my own at 6:30am... apparently my habits from the US came with me... Only now, I have to stay in my room for a while longer because noise travels very easily in this apartment. I'm thinking about inventing some kind of game that I can play to keep myself entertained until it's time to get out of bed.
-People in my group from Paris don't recognize me if I don't wear black. I only packed black clothes, so that's all I wore in Paris... but I bought some other clothes and this is the second day in a row that people haven't recognized me.

Life just continues to be an adventure... So, until the next episode, I hope your lives are filled with plenty of your own! :)

And I shall hereby deem it "out of place"

Today, I went to the Institute de Torraine for my oral exam and I will find out where I placed tomorrow and it will determine my entire schedule for the semester. I looked around me and I saw many Americans, which seemed strange after being at the Alliance with only one other American, along with clumps of other nationalities. I found it sad that none of the groups were mixed... I think this is the tendency of man: to cling to what is most familiar when situations are unknown and uncomfortable. I know I do it, yet it seemed very segregated, in a negative sort of way... I don't know if I can really explain it. Maybe if you compared it to a high school cafeteria, like in "Mean Girls" or "October Sky"... I almost can't believe I put those two movies in the same sentence.
After all of that, I decided to go "home" and chill, take a nap, email, all that sort of stuff... And then the time came to go out again to meet M. Kevin for a tour of Tours. I went to the supermarché (aka grocery store) because I was hungry and I was craving Fig Newtons. Alas, they do not have these marvleous things in France, but they had something similar, Figoul (I think), so I bought that. I proceeded to the Institute and sat under a bench writing down vocabulary words that I needed to learn. The French Newtons where like eating chewy fig jam inside shortbread... Good, but not quite the same.
The town of Tours is not that big, but it offers a lot. We walked around for two hours, learning about the history and seeing the difference between buildings reconstructed after the damage of WWII and the older buildings that made it through. It was quite interesting. While we were walking down the Rue National, which is the Tours version of the Champs Elysee (sp?), we saw a goat. Yes. A goat was wandering in the street... a busy street, too. We all just stopped and stared. M. Kevin said, "How in heaven's name did a goat get to be here?" I couldn't have said it better. It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen.
Later, walking along the same road, M. Kevin was warning us to be careful when walking in the street because a lot of the buses run on electricity, so they're very quiet... and he said, "To put it delicately, you'll get a slight smack in the small of the back if you step into their path." I thought that was also one of the best things I've ever heard.
Tonight at dinner, I learned a lot about the Islamic way of life. The other student living here is from Lybia and practices Islam. The dinner table topic was premarital sex, go figure, and he was talking about how it is forbidden in his country. He then posed the question to me if I would move from the US if it was the same there. I was surprised by this question and I responded that no, I would not move because it's not something I support (premarital sex) and that I wouldn't have known any different. The topic then moved on to more about his faith. Ramadan has just ended, so I got to learn a little more about that, which was really cool. It struck me though, during dessert, that here were four people with different beliefs: Catholic, Christian, and Muslim, all sitting down and eating in harmony in France. It blew me away. It was one of those moments where all you can do is look around and say "wow..." Camal also shared his dates from Tunis... and normally I don't like dates, but these were the best I've ever had. Maybe it's because they're from Tunis...
On a different note, my classes start tomorrow and I have to get some sleep so I don't fall asleep during class... that would be a bad first impression.

Thus passes Normandy

After the new experience of meeting my host father, leaving my new-found friends, and sleeping in an unfamiliar place without anything really familiar, I left Tours the next morning to meet with everyone else to start a new part of the trip, the excursion to Normandy for four days. It took about 3.5 hours to reach our first destination, the Memorial at Caen, which is a huge museum of WWII history. After picnicing in front of the memorial with the lunches our host families packed for us, we ventured inside and I was thoroughly impressed. The exhibits started you at the end of WWI and the events that led up to WWII, then it presented artifacts and timelines and all sorts of information of things that happened during WWII. I was so overwhelmed and it was quite an emotional experience. We were there until 4pmish. We then got into the car and drove a little further to Arromanches, the beach town where Winston Churchill commissioned a temporary dock to be built so that supplies could be delivered to the Allied troops after they invaded Normandy. There were a few old metal docks there, covered with seaweed and the metal rusting away, but it was so cool to see. You could also see the wave-breakers in the distance, the huge concrete boxes that were sunk there 65 years ago. We walked along the beach and I picked up some shells, reminding me of when I was in California with my family this summer, but this was at the same time completely different.
Our hotel, La Marine, was situated right above the beach and was very comfortable. I shared a room with Abbey and Maureen for two nights there and the whole group at dinner at the hotel restaurant. That was a real treat because they had amazing seafood there. My first night, I tried the soupe de poisson (The waiter didn't hear anything I ordered except for the dessert, but it turned out better in the end) and cod layered with spices and on a bed of veggies in some kind of citrusy vinagrette. I liked that so much, I had the same thing the next night, but I got pumpkin soup instead, which was also very tasty.
I thoroughly enjoyed that place because we, meaning all 11 of us, were together again and laughing and hanging out. I'm glad that this trip came when it did because I was not ready to be separated from all of them. The next day, breakfast consisted of glorious croissants and baguettes, supplimented with French cottage cheese (much like plain yogurt), ham, cereal... stuff like that. I'm so thankful that I'm in a country that likes coffee... and likes it strong! :)
The first full day of the trip, we went to the museum right across the parking lot of the hotel. It was small in comparison to the one the day before, but it was nice to know the historical significance of where we were staying. We then had free time to do lunch and explore the town. Abbey and I decided to just get sandwiches while the other people we were with decided to do a sit down type of meal. Abbey and I went to sit on the wall above the beach to eat our sandwiches and that was great. The seagulls were going crazy... It's probably because people are stupid and they normally feed the wildlife, so now people who want to eat their lunch have to worry about little gifts from the birds as they squawk and zoom over their heads... It was all ok though... We saw this group of older people down on the beach eating lunch and one made a heart in the sand with initials and kept looking up at the sky, as if he was making it for his deceased wife... It was very cute.
We then got into the mini bus and traveled to the American Cemetery. That was quite an experience all of it's own. I had heard and seen pictures of this place since I can remember, so I knew what to expect, but seeing the thing in real life was completely different. I think everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime... After going through the new visitor center, the cemetery has a different, more personal feeling. I walked into the cemetery, and honestly, I wasn't all that impressed, as horrible as it sounds... But I kept walking... and as I passed the chapel, I expected that to be the end of the rows of crosses, but they kept going. That is when I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me... I felt like I wasn't even worthy enough to walk on the grass and approach the crosses to see the names. I don't even understand what it was like that morning in 1944... And I don't think that I fully comprehend the sacrifice behind it. I was getting emotional (again) until I heard this lady shouting at her husband that they had to leave in 15 minutes. This wouldn't have really been a huge deal, except she kept yelling at him... "Are you keeping track of the time?" and "I'm not waiting for you if you're late!" I wanted to toss her over the wall onto Omaha Beach...
After hearing that for a while, I decided to leave the cemetery and head down to the beach. On my way over to the path, I saw someone riding a horse on the beach... which I thought was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. That was a beautiful walk and it took about 10 minutes to get to the actual sand. I kept thinking about what it would have been like to climb such a hill under enemy fire... Again, I don't think I was able to fully understand. I stood with a couple of friends on Omaha beach for a while before realizing we needed to get back to the mini bus.
The next stop was at Pointe du Hoc, a battle site where American Rangers landed and scaled the cliffs to capture what they believed to be a very powerful gun that could have completely ruined the landings on D-Day, but after heavy losses and finally securing the position, they realized that the gun had never been activated. The site now is full of bomb craters and remnants of the German post. You can mosey on into some of the concrete buildings and walk all around, which is something new because there used to be signs saying that you shouldn't step off of the path because there were still mines... Yeah... I stepped off the path...
The last stop of the day was at the German Cemetery. This made me even more sad than the American Cemetery. The visitor center was small and the displays looked like someone's 8th grade project on poster boards. Exiting the small building, I went into the cemetery where over 22,000 German soldiers are buried. For each small rounded plaque in the ground, there lies two soldiers. Compared to the rigid white crosses of the 9,000 some American soldiers, it was a sobering experience. I read a few of the stones and most of the soldiers were 22 and younger. That broke my heart. There was no pride here, no victory. It was almost as if they were trying to honor the dead while trying to mention why they died.
The next day, we packed up and headed toward Mont-Saint-Michel, the fortified abbey that has been built up over the centuries on a peninsula of sorts. On our way, we stopped in Bayeux to look at the Bayeux tapestry and the town. That was interesting, but quite different from the two previous days. When we arrived at Mont-Saint-Michel, we unloaded our things and began the hike to our hotel. Yes. We stayed in the medieval city. The hotel was spread into three different buildings. The first we went to was the restaurant and reception. The other two were the rooms. Abbey and I roomed again, for probably one of the last times (sad thought), in the higher building, which offered a little bit of a view. If I had to choose which place to spend the night at out of the two hotels that I experienced this trip, I would have a really hard time. The rooms were better at Arromanches, but the food at Mont-Saint-Michel was terrific. It was the best meal I've ever had in my life. 5 courses: an appetizer of raw salmon in tomato sauce (kinda spicy), then soupe de poisson, then salmon and rice and ratatouille, then a cheese plate, then tarte aux pommes (kinda like apple pie, but different). This event/meal took about 2.5 hours to complete. It was so much fun to sit there and talk with friends and laugh and eat good food. After, we, meaning Abbey, Alan, and I went out exploring. It was late, but we knew that the island would be brimming with tourists the following day, so we decided to be adventurous. It was so cool and I made the decision that I'm definitely coming back when I'm married. Hands down. It was such a cool place and so full of things to look at and walk around...
We left after our tour the next day, so we got home around 8:50 pm, after visiting St. Malo and St. Lo, both cities that were decimated by bombings during WWII, but were rebuilt. I decided to try and walk home, which I think was not the best idea, but I eventually made it and I had dinner with my host parents after meeting my host mom for the first time.
I'm going to cut this post short because it's saying that it's getting a little long, which is true. Thanks for bearing through this long update. I hope it was worth your time!

A new chapter in this part of my life... I believe we shall call it: Paranoia.

After spending a little over 2 weeks in Paris, I am now at my "final destination" in Tours, France. I'm situated with a very nice older couple who have four children, one of whom had twins a couple days ago. I have not met my host mom yet, but my host father seems to be very nice. I am going to be sharing a bathroom with Carlo, the 34 year old who is doing his doctorate and has been in France for 9 months. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person who is a "guest" but it's intimidating at the same time. I'm very thankful to have WiFi here at the apartment. I was worried that it might not work out, but everything is fine. I live very close to the Institute, so that will prove nice when the weather decides to turn sour and wet and ugly. My host father informed me that it is very humid here because they are so close to 2 rivers, so that will be a little adjustment... Probably more humidity than Indiana... We'll see. My room is very nice... Yellow walls and a marble fireplace. As soon as I saw it, I thought, "Oh man, my dad is going to be so jealous." I don't know if it's used regularly, but I wouldn't be opposed to it.

My host father offered me lunch after helping me set up my computer and carrying my luggage up. There was a little trouble communicating because I realized that I have a lot more to learn when it comes to French culture in the kitchen and the vocabulary that supplements it. I ended up lunching on some baguette, tomato, tuna, cheese, and a pear. It was really good, but I felt bad sitting and eating while trying to think of topics of conversation to bring up with my host father. He sat there with me and was patient with me as I tried to talk to him. I'm already getting frustrated with my lack of French and I hate not being able to run over and talk to someone I know.
I cried for the first time today. The last few days in Paris, I was yearning for some solitude and alone time. Now that I am completely alone and in solitude, I want to go back to Paris. The grass is always greener on the other side, eh? I'm very thankful that we are all going to be together as a group for the next few days in Normandy before school starts because that will help me transition, I think.
The reason why I call this chapter of my life "Paranoia" is because I am extremely paranoid that I'm going to do something culturally unacceptable around my host family or that I'll say the wrong thing. My host father has corrected me so many times already, which I appreciate, but it makes me feel as if I should just quit and start speaking English. I've read a couple of books that talk about host families and culture shock, so I think that is feeding my obsession with wanting to make little to no mistakes, which in turn makes me hesitant to speak at all. I know that this is something that I will have to be diligent with, but that work is daunting as an idea. I'm going to be doing a lot of reading and studying in the next few months... and these next couple of days, I will be working on memorizing the most important phrases and concepts so that routine conversations are not so daunting.

Thus passes Saturday...

Yesterday, we all got up about the same time, if not later, as if we were going to school. Instead of going to the Alliance, though, we navigated our way to the Place de la Bastille via the Metro. We waited there for a couple of minutes (like 10) and our director finally showed up. We sat at a café right next to the Metro exit and drank coffee (which was actually a shot of espresso...) while Monsieur Kevin told us about the history of France that lead up to the Revolution. We also witnessed a fist fight. You see, yesterday was a day full of the French Revolution... and lots and lots of walking. After walking around that part of Paris for a little while, we stopped at a great boulangerie to buy lunch and I had the best "pain au chocolat" EVER. We picniced right in front of the Centre George Pompidou, which is a museum of modern art that is designed inside out... If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. It's really cool to look at.

After lunch, we walked to the Jardin du Tuleries, which is located right outside of the Louvre on the Eiffel Tower side. From there, you can see Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. It's a pretty great view. We stood for a while and listened to more about the failures of Louis XVI and the crazy revolutionaries and then we walked a little closer to the Place de la Concorde. I had been there two years ago, but never had I actually walked there. That place still gives me the chills. There are few places that do, but the historical significance of things like the Revolution lend so much meaning and connection to such a place. There, we saw a cyclist run over a pigeon. That was traumatic because other pigeons started pecking at it... and then I couldn't watch anymore. It was cleaned up pretty quickly, but it was nonetheless disturbing.

We went to an amazing chocolate/decadent pastisserie thing after that and it was amazing. We waited in line for about 30 minutes for this and my chocolate thing cost like 7 euros... Thank you, taxpayers of Ohio... (This is what Monsieur Kevin says when we don't have to buy something for food... he just uses the money that BGSU has allotted to him... It's pretty great when that happens. Let's just say I'm thankful for the taxpayers of Ohio.) Then, we went to the Panthéon, which is really close to where we live. We went down into the Crypte, which is where a lot of famous people are buried, such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Jean Moulin, Jean Monnet, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie Curie, and more. It was so cool. I enjoyed this place so much more than the crypt at St. Denis, where all the royalty is buried.

We went home and rested after that, which was nice because I felt like my feet were rendered useless... I started reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" which I bought at a used bookstore here and it is really intriguing. It's about an austic boy, which is not a usual topic for a bestselling book... And so far, it's been really charming... That might not be the right word for it, but you should look it up sometime. Anyways, we (meaning all 11 of us with the BGSU program) went out last night around 10pm in search of the free dance lessons on the Seine River. After walking for a while, we found it and somehow accummulated 7 bottles of wine. We sat down and watched the salsa dancers and it was very interesting, but also very weird. I was asked to dance by this older man, like the age of a grandpa, and he was nice, but that is all the "dancing" I did. Abbey and I wandered down to the next group of dancing, which was much more classy and ballroom-type dancing. It was so cute to watch the couples dance. There was an older couple there and they were really good. By this time, it was 12:30am and I was really tired, so a group of us headed back to the Foyer. Even then, I didn't get to bed until 1:30... Oh well. I did pretty well compared to the others.

Today, I'm going to go visit my friend from the Alliance and hang out a little bit, then go to church, skype, then go down to the Eiffel Tower for one last time, then to the banks of the Seine River for a different type of experience of just hanging out with people and talking. I'm really excited about it. I don't know what Monday looks like, so I think I'll just take one day at a time right now. We might go see Sacre Coeur... I also want to go to Musée d'Orsay. We'll see.

And to think that 2 weeks ago, I was a scared little girl...

Well, maybe I'm still a scared little girl... somewhere inside me... Maybe...

Being a Friday, I find myself wanting to go out and do something, but I also don't want to go out at all. I finished the fourth and final paper for the Paris part of the program, which ended up being about Versailles, so that feels great. It feels like I shouldn't be allowed to feel like I have nothing I need to do. I might create tasks just to give my life purpose. For instance: I will run up and down the 7 flights of stairs in less than 3 minutes. I must cut all the apples in my room in half before I eat them. I should short-sheet my roommate's bed... See, all those things would grant a little more purpose to my life, but that just sounds like a lot more work than necessary. So, maybe I'll be ok with relaxing... Whatever that is.

I was walking out onto the street with Abbey today and I remembered what it was like to walk into the Foyer for the first time. We didn't know any one else in the group really and we just asked the person closest to us to be our roommate... and then, when we wanted to leave for the first time, we had no idea what to do... The last time I stayed in Paris, we had to turn the key in before we left... Abbey and I were at a loss, so we stood there and watched other people come and go... And then we figured it out. We felt a little silly, needless to say. That whole trip was rather interesting because we were starving and we were trying to find food, but we couldn't figure out how to get a lot of the food vendors' attention, so we just ended up walking into a store and buying pain au chocolat (croissant with chocolate inside, for those of you who are not familiar with French goodness...) Yeah, that whole experience makes me laugh...

Yesterday, Abbey and I went to Les Invalides, a building built by Louis XIV for military purposes, including an infirmary, and it was pretty great. It is full of military museums and I thought of my brothers, Ben especially, as I peered at the signs. We are girls, so naturally, we didn't want to pay money to go look at weapons, so we just walked around. Abbey then went to the Musée Rodin while I went back to the Foyer. I could have taken the Metro, but I needed to clear my head. My mission was to get some good exercise while looking Parisien. I think I accomplished both. I also was my normal self and almost fell, for no reason, twice. One guy saw me do the whole ankle roll thing and I think he followed me for a couple of blocks to make sure I wasn't going to fall into traffic... I then made it my mission to lose him. And I did.
As I walked, I saw people with cameras, white atheltic shoes, and confused faces and I chuckled to myself. I'm not far removed from that, but it seems so long ago since everything in Paris was daunting and confusing. Not to say that I know everything, because I definitely don't... I just feel like I've been here a long time and I'm sad that I'm going to be leaving for another foreign place. It's ok, though. These two weeks have been great for getting to know other people and getting to know more about myself. I know that sounds strange, but I have learned so much about people during this time... Things that I couldn't have learned in Colorado Springs...

Tomorrow, we are going on an early excursion to the Revolutionary part of Paris, meaning the key places linked with the French Revolution, just to clear any confusion... I don't know how long that will take, but I'm excited to be walking around and learning more about one of my most favorite times in history. Then, we (not the whole group, but those interested) are going to go to the banks of the Seine and check out the free dancing lessons that go on every night there. I'm so excited for that. On Sunday, I'm going to go to visit with a German girl I met in my class, which I think is pretty great. As silly, sheltered, and American as that sounds, I'm totally excited to have friends from different countries! Well, Julia is just from one country, but I hope to make more friends... haha.

I do miss America, though. I could really use a cup of hot chocolate and some popcorn that I could curl up with on this chilly evening... Just two things among many to look forward to when I come home in December :)

The American Girl Who came to Paris and Left it Without Any Peanut Butter...

Yes. It's sad. I finished off my jar of Skippy Natural Peanut Butter yesterday... I thought it would have lasted longer, but then I must have forgotten who was involved... Ha. Of course I'm going to eat peanut butter with French dark chocolate. Of course I'm going to eat pb with fresh baguettes... Of course I'm going to eat pb by the spoonful when I feel overwhelmed... These are the reasons why I now find myself peanut butter-less in Paris. There are worse things to be, but I find myself a little nostalgic that it's gone...

It's been an interesting past couple of days... I mean, I went to Versailles on Sunday... And I can't remember if I posted that already or not... ha. The group went on an excursion today to St. Denis, which is where the majority of past kings and queens are "buried." I wasn't creeped out at all by this until our director said it gave him the "heebie jeebies" and then I really started thinking about it... Then he took us down into the crypt and into this small room with high black marble walls with inscriptions... and told us that the room contained all the bones of past monarchs behind the walls... And the girl beside me started hyperventilating and trying not to freak out... Which I thought was peculiar at first, but then I really started thinking about it... and then the smell of decay really got to me. Needless to say, I was done with the crypt before the tour had even started. I walked around for a little while, looking at the sculptures on top of the "tombs" while listening to the audio guide for about half an hour... then I wanted out. The icing on the cake was when I came across the dried-up heart of Marie Antoinette's son in a glass display in the crypt. I have a hard time believing that that was the real thing, but the thought of it actually being that gives ME the heebie jeebies.

I was so thankful to leave there. We were also outside of the main part of Paris, which is not very safe after a certain time, so we were all eager to get back to the Latin Quarter (which is where we live in the Foyer). Now I'm procrastinating in writing my fourth and final paper for this time in Paris. I chose to write on Versailles, which I enjoyed learning about while I was there on Sunday... Hopefully that goes smoothly. Tomorrow, Abbey and I hope to visit Les Invalides, which was built by one of the Louis... I think it was Louis XIV, but I could be wrong...

I have two days of class left at the Alliance Française, which brings bittersweet feelings. I've really enjoyed not having to work too hard but have fun in the class, but I'm also looking forward to a more challenging class schedule in Tours. I'm also pumped for meeting my host family and get settled into a routine. I'm going to miss having the "dorm" style living here though... Every one has their own host family and we won't be able to stop in and visit with each other as much... I had a great talk with one of the girls here last night. God was so good in opening a window and orchestrating the opportunity for me to share my testimony with her. I'm so excited about the things we talked about and it's great that we have the remaining 3 months for whatever God has planned! In talking with another person from Taylor, we just marveled at the opportunities that God has opened for us, just here in Paris, to share what we believe and for people to say they want to know more. If you had asked me this summer before I left for France, I would have said that I was petrified that I was going to fail at being a witness for my Lord and Savior and that I was going to be spiritually drained and remain drained... But praise the Lord, I was so wrong. Not only have I been drained, but I have been replenished by my brother and sister in Christ here in Paris and seeing other people pursue answers for their questions by seeking Christ! I am so thankful for my sovereign God... Each time I think that He'll overlook something, I'm gently reminded that God is not human... he is all-knowing and he has a deeper compassion and love than humans can understand... What a great Father!

I have a few days left in Paris... We leave on Tuesday morning, heading to Tours where we meet our host families and then we're off the next day to Normandy for four days. We'll then get back to Tours on October 4th. Classes at the Tourraine Institute begin on October 5th. I'm a little nervous for that, but like I mentioned earlier, I'm excited to start real school.