Dear France

I think it is time to let go of our long-standing relationship with mayonaise:

You are so much better than the fatty condiment that is associated with the one and only Paula Deen (even though you, being the "gourmand" country that you are, have no idea who she is).

In order to better understand why you so often resort to mayonaise I did some research. As it turns out you all started to enjoy this condiment back in the days of Louis XIV and a century later it was named one of the five "mother sauces." I get it...back then, flavor enhancers were needed. Not to mention being fat was a sign of wealth.

Old habits die hard, a phrase I know and understand well, but let's be real. Nowadays, the stuff comes out of a jar. Nowadays, obesity is a problem (even the French will admit it). Nowadays...we just don't need mayonaise. There are so many other sauces that I have seen here: Dijon mustard, vinaigrettes, even ketchup. Why keep resorting to mayonaise if there are so many other better options?

So, my dear friend France, put that jar of mayo back on the shelf.

You know I just want what's best for you, what's best for us. It's time to end this toxic relationship.

With love,

Holly

A few more adjustments...

And here are updates to Email Series #2

This household is not perfect...the only household that is perfect for me are my parents' houses or when  I live on my own. I think I was in the honeymoon phase of culture shock when I wrote that. However, I don't hold it against them that it isn't the perfect household. I still reaaaalllly like it here and that's what matters, not the little things that I don't like.

I haven't been going out as much, to bars I mean, because my classes start too early and it's wayyy to expensive. I have discovered a love for mojitos though. Sugar and mint, that's literally all I taste in them. And you can make them last FOREVER by eating the mint leaves :p Oh, the college life...

Since sending the email on Jan 23, I've stuck to using the subject vous with Monique. So far she hasn't told me to use tu, which I'm supposed to wait for, so I guess I made the right decision? I use tu with my host dad though, so I still find it kind of bizarre.

Oh, and I still haven't gotten a haircut. My friend Amanda said she'd do it for me if I buy scissors, so she's been watching youtube tutorials and we'll see how it goes! I'm hoping to get that done by the end of next weekend...

And I was correct about the Nantes trip. It was VERY damp...aka freaking TEMPESTS. My friend's umbrella flipped inside-out and then broke...it was crazy. Also I forgot to mention in my other Nantes post that for dinner one night, my friends and I just bought bread, cheese, and meat (like cured ham or whatever) and had that for dinner. It was sooooo cheap (4 euro per person, unheard of!) and delicious.

Also I went to a fest-noz! (The Breton party thing, in case you forgot). I didn't dance; there were sooo many people and I didn't know the dances, but I'll also make a separate post about that because it was pretty interesting.

I still love Brittany just as much now as I did a few weeks ago! If not more...yesterday I had a crepe filled with honey. Literally filled so much that it was leaking honey out the sides...it was heaven.

Oh, and this is what I do to count my money when I'm going to pay for something. I still can't tell exactly which coin is which when they're all jumbled in my wallet so I just make a fool of myself and lay them all out, face up, on my hand.

Minor Adjustments

I've been looking through what I've posted and realized that there is A LOT that I'm missing. I'll try to post more over the next few days, but I figured I'd start now.

The plan (since it's been drilled into my head here in France that you always start by telling your reader your plan):

Go through the series of emails, one by one, and add more description/tell what has changed since then.  Starting with the post A Series of Emails

My 15 year old host sister Monica is from the Congo, but she's been living with Monique for 7 years. This weekend I met her older brother, Vincent. He lives in St. Malo and he's nice enough to take the time to talk to me :)

My 13 year old host sister's name is Morgane; she's been here for 2 years but she goes home on the weekends. Apparently when she came here she could hardly write and wasn't very good in school, but she's improved drastically (with the help of Monique) and I never would have guessed that she ever had difficulties like that.

My 12 year old host brother's name is Aurelien; he's partially blind and he also leaves on the weekends.

Sleeping is still a weird-ish thing here, or at least different from at home. I have classes at 8:30 three days a week and I always hear Monica when she gets up in the mornings around 6:30 because she lives in the attic above me.  I usually go to bed around 9:30 or 10, and every single night I wake up between the hours of 3:30 and 5:30 for no reason at all, so I usually check my email on my phone and respond to any new ones I get...I'm well aware of how weird that is.

The preliminary language course that we had for 2 weeks was a bit of a joke...but it killed time and I met some interesting professors. At the end we got to taste all kinds of Breton specialties (aka cakes with 10 pounds of butter in them and cidre --mildly alcoholic, carbonated apple cider is how I would describe it) and it was allllll freeeeee!

How'd I do on the placement test? I got into the C2 level...which is the highest possible. So woohoo! Speaking French is still pretty hard, but I'm realizing that I just have to let go of the notion that I need to speak without making mistakes which is difficult for me to do, but once I get past that I know I'll be fine.

Like I said in the last email, I still don't understand how the French are so skinny. I do feel like I might have lost a few pounds, but still how that happened is beyond me.

I'll dedicate an entire post a little later to the French traditions (that I've experienced) surrounding food and meals.

And now for your entertainment, let's play a game of find the Frenchie! Hint: there are 4. This should be rather easy for you since you may have already seen pictures of my friends...

Think you've got it? The only boy in the photo, that's Matthieu. Then behind him on the left with the black and white scarf is Pauline. To his right with the glasses is Lola, and to her right is Lise. They're the program monitors.

You can't really tell in this picture, but Pauline is adorable and very French. Matthieu is hilarious, Lola is super classy and sarcastically funny, and Lise is sort of quiet and sort of a hippie if you can't tell :p

Act Natural

Tell the four of us to just act natural and this is what you'll get.

However, take a candid photo and you'll get something like this...

Okay, it's later!

You can't study in France without doing a bit of wine tasting!

I know it looks like I wear the same outfit every day but...(at Mt. St. Michel)

With Tanya in Le jardin des Plantes (Nantes)

I've been waiting to see this fountain since 8th grade when I did a project in Ish's class on Le Jardin du Luxembourg. (Paris, with Amanda)

We found a cool cafe that I fell in love with! I got tea -- herbal, of course -- and it's brewed loose-leaf in those awesome kettles! Also tea and coffee are usually served with a little chocolate or cake. Deeelicious!

Oh, and the first bar I stepped foot in and ordered a drink was in Paris. (things I like to be able to say :p )

Lost Time

I'm realizing that my life here is pretty awesome and I have pictures to prove it...or rather my friends posted pictures to Facebook which prove it.

Anyway, to remember that fact I'm gradually going to go through and pick out pics/explain why the day/mini-adventure was awesome!

And it'll also make up for the density of some of my posts :P

Need I elaborate?

I took part in a REAL FRENCH PROTEST! I was dying the whole time.

The very beginning of our friendship! I really never would have guessed that we'd become so close, so quickly. (at an Italian restaurant in Paris)

My host mom gave me free tickets to a tourism expo outside of Rennes. We went and this is what we found! Okay by me :)

I'll leave the rest for later!

Le Mont Saint Michel et Saint Malo

Today we had an excursion with our program. Mt. St. Michel is an abbey from the middle ages...it was very overcast and rainy today and I'm too lazy to edit my photos (as per usual) so the pictures are dark. 

Mt. St. Michel is actually an island though, and during certain parts of the year it's completely surrounded by the sea. The Bretons (people of Brittany) and Normands (people of Normandy) both claim it's part of their region, but my host dad told me to say that I was in Normandy. So...there you go!

Another awesome thing is that Mt. St. Michel was actually what inspired the design for the city Minas Thrith in the Lord of the Rings! And if you know me, you know I was geeking out about it. 

On the left is the LOTR city, the right the one that I visited today (not my photo, of course). But that's the coolest thing ever right?!

We also visited St. Malo, which is an awesome beach and it's only an hour away from Rennes!

And here's a picture of my friends and I all together. Tanya on the left, Amanda on the top right, and Kelsey bottom right.

It's so awesome to walk around medieval towns, I really did feel like I was in the Lord of the Rings at certain points. There were also all kinds of little shops and cafes throughout.

Bad news though: I'm becoming  a 2 cup-a-day addict...of ESPRESSO. Oh well, c'est la vie! 

Le soleil!

It was beautiful and sunny today! A rarity in this town.

The view from my bus stop, the metro station, my morning coffee (and Tanya, one of my good friends here!), school lunch (so good) and the library! Oh, and that dessert is cake soaked in so much rum that I couldn't even eat it...

aaaa

Thought of the day

Life is one big adventure, every single day is a new experience. People come and people go so instead of being sad when they're gone, enjoy the time that you have with them. Everything and everyone in life happens for a reason, it's just up to you to find it.

Un weekend Nantais et la vie en France

Life in France is like nothing I've ever experienced before. It's pretty regimented for me since I live in a family with kids. Every day I get up and go downstairs for breakfast, which my host mom sets out. Like, she sets the table and has all the breakfast things out and I always have cereal and milk...and the cereal she buys has literally chunks of REAL chocolate in it.

Classes start tomorrow, so that's going to change things a tiny but but not too much. I'll just go to class, have lunch in the cafeteria place (the food is delicious) and then go to class/go home, eat dinner, and then do my little workshops for singing/cinema/photoshop (none of which have started yet).

But when I'm at home, the kids are usually doing their own thing so sometimes I stay downstairs and do work, sometimes I go to my room and sit on my computer, sometimes I sit in the living room with my mom and watch the news.

I've been going to bed pretty early because we start early...actually the days I have class (M,Tu,F) I start at 8:30. I also haven't started teaching english in schools yet but I'm really looking forward to it.

I like to go to bed early. Some nights I'm asleep by 10pm, and that is the BEST.

I have a core group of friends, if you haven't seen in pics or whatever, but it's Amanda, Tanya, and Kelsey. They're the girls I went to Nantes with this weekend.

The trip was really cool; we saw the castle of the last queen of Brittany (the region where I live...its called that because the celts from Britain came here), so it's really really old. We also bought souvenirs...of course the ones I bought are all food related. Little jars of jams, caramels, and a Breizh Cola class.

Breizh Cola is a type of coca cola that is made in this region. Breizh is a Breton word (the regional language of this area). I LOVE this region though, it has such a rich culture that isn't completely French. It started off as it's own nation, then eventually had to be added to France or else it would have been defeated.

But anyway, I eat a lot of galettes here. It's a regional thing. They're like crepes, except made with buckwheat flour.

Okay, so there's a joke in that. I'm not sure if I'll explain this well but...first of all, there are a lot of "phares" or lighhouses, in English, in Brittany. Since we're, ya know, completely surrounded by coast. Secondly, to be "à l'ouest" is an expression that's sort of like "not all there" sooo a little crazy. So basically it's the Breton's themselves laughing at their reputation for slight insanity...and we're also on the west coast, so that's another thing.

and the chateau

And that mote around it is real! Those pics are just from google by the way.

Some other things that are cool about Brittany is that prunes and kiwi are very plentiful and inexpensive cause they're grown here! As well as seafood.

And generally cheese in France is inexpensive, even the fancy kinds, because it's made here. Last night we didn't feel like spending so much money on dinner so we just bought bread, cheese, and meat and ate it in the hostel. It ended up being only 4 euro a person (whereas eating out can be between 9 and 12). So that was a bargain and it was delicious.

You'd like it here.

Because of all the cheap fruit and delicious food and food culture and relaxed-ness of my household. The decor in here is really global bc my host mom has been all around the world and she buys it there/people send her things. It's actually pretty cool.

And staying in a youth hostel is great because it's inexpensive...but it's not fancy, so if you ever do that don't have your expectations too high haha. Breakfast is included though. There's coffee, cereal, tartines (which is like...pretoasted bread, i don't know how to else to describe it cause that's what it is haha), orange juice, hot chocolate, bread, jam, butter, honey, tea, dried apricots, and prunes. All buffet style, so it's pretttty awesome.

Oh and yesterday I bought a watch! it was 29 euro, which is a STEAL in this country. It's white and I really like it and I feel european wearing it.

And also on Friday, our first day in Nantes, it rained allllll dayyyyy. All it every does is rain in this region because it's surrounded by coast...Nantes was way worse than Rennes though. Luckily my host mom insisted that I bring her rain jacket because my friend's umbrella literally broke because of the "tempests." It gets crazy windy and it's not uncommon to see people's umbrella's flip inside out. It's actually pretty funny! Luckily the castle we saw is a museum so we spend a good 3-4 hours in there. 

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL though. We went shopping, walked around, saw brass bands playing in the streets, saw a chalk artist, went to a huge beautiful garden, and then ate dinner/hung out in the hostel. That took up the whole day and it was really great!
That's all I can think of for now, but that's the gist of things I think...

Oh, and how a youth hostel works:

Check in is between say 8 and 10 and then later in the day, say from 3-7. Your breakfast is included, but you have to be out of the hostel by 10 and you can go back in around 3 or 4 ( so they can clean or something, I don't really know).

You get sheets to put on your bed that you use the whole time. Showers and toilets are separate out in the hallway. It's very basic but also very economical.

We got our own private room because there were 4 of us but you can end up in a room with random people you don't know also.

And also I had to participate in the blog for my program so here's the link! feel free to look through previous entries, that might give more info on what it's like here.

http://study-rennes-la.ciee.org/

Email Series #2

January 15

 Today I'm making a point of talking more with Monique even though I know my French isn't perfect. I have to remember not to stay in my room too long because then I end up just isolating myself. Monique is really nice about letting me (and the other kids) do basically whatever we want. I don't know how they did it, but they placed me in the perfect household for me. 

Hm, what makes Pauline French? Well first of all she just looks French (aka she's absolutely beautiful, she's pretty thin but in a healthy way, he dresses very fashionably but in a normal kind of way, like a normal person, she has a short haircut) she speaks the French way -- which is both nasal and comes out of the front of the mouth at the same time...don't ask--and she does the bises very often which a lot of the monitors don't because we're american and they know it's weird for us. I'll take a picture with her and put it on the internet eventually, then you'll know what I'm talking about. Oh and also she smokes sometimes. I think almost everyone here smokes, at least sometimes.

The Monaco doesn't taste like beer, it tasted like sugary pop. So I'll still say I don't like beer.

Monique does know I like cooking but she's pretty darn sick. I think once she gets better life here will change a bit, but in a good way. I like it this way though, it's very laid back.

I'm not sure what exactly is going on in Mali either, but the USA is actually going to intervene along with the UN. I don't know exactly what the shootings in Paris were about, but it was surrounding Kurdish people so I don't think it was the same thing. That was the day I left Paris though, so I was happy for that.

Today we had a meeting about the teaching practicum, the teaching English as a second language in schools like I told you about, and I decided that I'm 100% going to do it even if I don't end up getting any credit through Pitt. I've heard that the classes here won't take much time or effort and the teaching English will actually only take up 3 hours a week, which is WAYYYY less work than I do for any class I've ever taken at Pitt. I think I definitely should become a teacher because it's one of the only things in life that I get really really excited for.

And after the meeting my friends and I went to a cafe and I got a white hot chocolate and we shared a sandwich. I got a small hot chocolate and that was 3.10, so about 4 dollars. Things here are EXPENSIVE but they drink coffee very often nonetheless. The coffee here is very good too.

I think I might know part of why the French are thin: they eat HUGE meals and then hardly snack in between. It might also be the walking they do, since it's not necessary to have a car. Every day I take the bus and the metro, I really like it here. 

I think you might like living in France because of the cafes and all the food is good, I'm pretty sure you'd eat everything I've eaten so far. Also the news is TOTALLY different here. The newscasters talk in depth about issues, not just tiny little stories, and everyone knows what's going on pretty much all the time. The French are very educated and they like to talk politics. On Saturday I'm going to go to a protest, something that happens pretty often in France, to support gay marriage. There was a huge one in Paris on Sunday against it...France is generally pretty divided about that. And other than that you'd like it because you can get delicious food to go, like sandwiches, so you'd never have to cook if you didn't want to :p

I'm pretty excited for our language course tomorrow. I feel pretty good about spending more time with the family today; at dinner the kids were telling jokes and I understood some of them. French jokes are often just a play on words, so if I don't know one of the words the joke is completely lost. 

I feel like I have put a language-blocker on my brain because for some reason I can't get myself to think in French. I'm trying to write in my journal in French, I've actually written a lot. I think it's probably normal to think in English because if I didn't, I would have too many pent up thoughts and emotions. Writing emails to you helps me sort out my feelings about France and remember things I did, if you couldn't tell :p I'll probably end up printing them all out when I get back because I've been finding that I tell you things that I forget to write in my journal because I'm not surprised by them but you would be since you haven't studied French culture as much as me. 

Oh and I'm getting used to the whole shower at night thing, I'm going to go do that now. 

January 23

Cool thanks, I'm glad that worked out. Everything's going well, getting settled into the routine of my preliminary language course but if course that will change in less than a week, then it'll be all hectic and crazy again! On Friday we have a wine tasting though, so that will be cool.

Yesterday Monique was telling me about all the places she's been; all over the place, really. Africa, Taiwan, China. When she was in Africa she got a really bad infection and actually had to be sent back to France, and Pierre's sister (I think she said his sister?) actually died there from what I'm guessing was smallpox? I don't know the word in French so I really do have to guess :p it was something that can kill you in a matter of a few days. Anyway, I have been afraid to ask Monique questions because I don't know whether to "tutoie" or "vousvoie" her. Since you don't know French, tutoie is when you use the subject "tu" which is informal, used for people your own age or those you know very well and vousvoie is when you use the subject "vous" which is formal, more respectful, used for superiors like professors and such. Pierre told me right off the bat to use tu with him, but Monique hasn't said anything. I have accidentally used tu before because I hardly have to vousvoie anyone, and she didn't say anything. The other kids use tu with her. But I'll probably vousvoie her until she says otherwise.

Anyway, she has a lot of friends who also went to Africa and she says that when you return, your immune system is weakened so that's why when she gets sick, she gets really sick. But she's better now so that's good.

Yesterday I wrote in a xmas card for her in English to a student she had here 14 years ago. She told me about a lot of the other students, one girl is in Africa right now and a few others are ambassadors. I have a lot to live up to :P

I don't think I want to go to Africa though, after hearing those horror stories...although I think she would still advocate going even so. I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do after I graduate. I think I will probably major in French and English Literature and then do the MAT (the 1-year masters in education program at Pitt) and then after that I want to move somewhere else in the world to teach english/something else to do with education. Teaching english is a really great option for people like me though. 

Something else about France: for women here, bedhead is not frowned upon. People here are allowed to have crazy hair...so tonight, I'm not going to put any product in my hair and we'll see what it looks like tomorrow morning. Hopefully the look will suit me :P

My friend did give me a coupon for 15% off a haircut, but getting your hair cut here is ridiculously expensive and, for some reason, the French think it's perfectly justifiable to charge more to cut long hair, even if you only get an inch trimmed off. For some reason, that strikes me as something that is sooo French, even the French hate it. My friend Amanda said she'd cut my hair for me, just a trim, so I might let her do it...free is free. If it's uneven...well oh well, the French don't seem to care anyway.

We have a 3 day weekend next weekend, so my friends and I are going to travel further into Brittany. (I say further into it because we are on the very edge of the region.) To really see Brittany, you have to go further into the peninsula. I'm 100% it will be a cold and very damp trip (since it rains here EVERY DAY! and if the sun comes out you're lucky...) but it's a neat region with a lot of culture. 

(this section grandma will like) Breton culture is very celtic. here are a few links to videos with a traditional and more modern/fusion examples

the instruments (the flute and bagpipe like thing) are really popular and the language they're speaking is the regional language here, Breton (but there's also gallo in the western part of brittany, where I am)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUw6Ce66yT0   the lady in this video is very famous for this (you don't have to listen to the whole thing...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB8Nim4JBNk   and this woman won the french equivalent of american idol, she's from this region so she made this song. if you listen you can hear the similarities to the traditional song --- i hope this link works, if not search in youtube "nolwenn lero tri martolod"

In february there's going to be a "fest-noz" which is a traditional breton party with the music and dancing and food; also in Rennes there are bars you can go to and hear the music played live. I'm really excited to delve into the Breton culture, if it wasn't evident...

A Series of Emails

I don't have much time to write (or rather didn't want to take the time to do it) so I'm going to post the emails that I sent to my dad. They're disorganized, poorly written, and may not make sense at points (because I'm not including the emails he sent me first) but it's better than nothing!

January 10

[answering the question "why do you hate the Paris metro?]Because my stupid tickets got demagnetized and then I almost got separated from my entire group and lost in Paris on my own, that's why! 

I just met my host family tonight and they're pretty cool. They're older, about 60, and they remind me a lot of Darren's grandparents. They also do foster parenting which is awesome! A girl named Monica, I think she might be African and she's 15, another girl named Aurelia, she's 13, and a boy whose name I forget but he's 12. Monique owns the house and Pierre, I guess he's her boyfriend or whatever, they're really really nice but the French do things differently.

I have to wear slippers in the house and I can only shower from 5 to 9pm because of water and what not.

But Pierre likes to joke and is really outgoing and Monique loves to cook and they only have one cat. The house is old and really big with a spiral staircase and a big garden in the back but I haven't seen anything during the day yet. It's only 4pm there now right? I would call but I don't want to wake anyone up so I'll send this and then try to get my phone hooked up to wifi later. (Yes I have wifi too!)

I really like being here, there are monitors who are students around 25 or 26 years old and they've helped me a ton. Tomorrow I have to get myself to the university, so I have to take a bus and the metro but it sounds really easy. I live in the "centre ville" which means center city where all the government stuff is so I think it's a really nice area.

Luckily we left Paris early today because there was a taxi strike (aka traffic everyone) and 3 militant women "kurk" I think were shot and there was a lot of craziness. But I think that's typical of France.

I'm pretty tired but my sleep has been totally messed up and I don't have to be out of the house till 8:50 tomorrow and it's only 10:19 here. But everyone's in bed so it's quiet.

Pierre isn't here a lot, apparently, I don't know why but maybe it's his job. Tonight I got here and they showed me around and we had dinner. They were glad to hear I'm not a picky eater though! And then the kids went and did their thing and I sat and watched the news with Monique and Pierre and we drank "tizane" (I think that's how it's spelled? its just herbal tea) and they had yogurt and I had a piece of chocolate. Also they host students alllll the time. There's some kid who's my age who lives in their basement, it's like an apartment I think? But I'm excited to meet him because he'll make it easier to transition. All in all I'm really happy I got placed here, I think we'll get along really well, they're a really neat family.

Oh and Monique does have kids of her own, two daughters, and also she has four grandchildren; 3 babies and one who's 4 or something.

January 13

I can understand them when they talk to me because they slow it down and use simple words. I think it's probably like having a conversation with an intelligent five year old :p

I talked to the kid in the basement today and he was super hard to understand. Usually that's how it goes. But I can understand the monitors well enough, but again they're all people who know that we don't know french.

I think you mean to say you met dj and natalie.

Tomorrow is my placement test for my preliminary language course, which will last 2 weeks. then after we take that we get reevaluated and placed into our regular classes. i'm planning on working my butt off for the next two weeks to get my french back up to where i want it to be. 

Yesterday we toured Rennes and went to le marche de lices, the second biggest market in france. it was like a dream come true. i'll take pictures and post them soon enough but i figure i have plenty of time to do all that so i'm just trying to take it in.

i ate two galettes yesterday, which are buckwheat crepes that originated in brittany. they're good but a lot of the food here sits in my stomach like a rock (i'm sure it also has to do with the constant state of anxiety of being in FRANCE)

but we bought our cell phones and metro passes yesterday so now i feel a little better because its easier to get around and not get lost, and if I do i can call someone.

January 14

His [the university student who rents the apartment in our basement] name is Jean-Baptiste. A lot of the Americans here don't like to speak French when we're together, including myself, so it's hard to transition when I get home. I think once classes start people will start speaking more French.

The market is huge, I'll take pictures next Saturday. I haven't been taking many, I'm just taking it all in for a while. 

January 15

I think I just get too nervous that I'll make mistakes, but that's my main problem when I speak.

Today was really fun; we went to this pub where all the bartenders are English/Scottish/Irish for "english night" where everyone speaks english. Three of the monitors were there, they're like chaperones. It was Lola (who I think is really cool and chique), Matthieu who's pretty funny and nice, and Pauline who is very very very French but she doesn't talk that much. My friend Amanda and I talked to Pauline for a while and got to know her a lottt better because we could speak in English and actually say what we wanted. It was pretty great.

I also tried Guinness. If there's one thing I've learned from being able to order drinks in bars, it's that I don't like beer of any sort. However here there's this drink called a Monaco and they add grenadine syrup or something to your crappy beer. It turns it red. I tried one of my friends' and it actually just tasted like a really sweet soda. Interesting enough.

I also tried "Apple Frost" today which was a cider, a thing that's pretty popular in Brittany. It tasted like apple juice beer. Interesting enough, I'd order it again probably but it was a little expensive...not really much more than beer, though. 

Being in France and going to bars is cool because people here don't go to bars just to drink, they go to socialize. I've already met a lot of French people and nobody's really been mean to me at all thus far. By Wednesday I'll know how I did on my little placement test that I took this morning but I'm pretty sure I did fairly well.

Tomorrow we're doing random crap again. I don't know if I'll go out. I like to stay here and they say we're supposed to spend time with our families, but I'm really enjoying exploring the city and Monique really encourages me to go out.

Oh and have you heard about all of the stuff with Mali? France is on a high-orange alert because of it.

From what I've had of Monique's cooking it is VERY good but she's been sick so she doesn't cook that much. But even just the little things she makes up for dinner are really good. Tonight I tried four different types of cheeses. The food at the university is pretty good too, but it the bread doesn't really match the quality of whatever Monique buys.

I really don't know how the French are so skinny though. It's hard for me to finish what's put in front of me sometimes, but the French literally wipe every plate clean with their bread. I just can't do it!

Je suis encore vivante!

Hello to all of you who read my blog.

I don't feel like writing, but I figured I'd just post that I'm alive.

And I love it here.

I never want to leave.

But it's time for bed. Tomorrow i'm going to the market and it's going to be the best day ever.

A toute a l'heure!