The first few days

Day 3: This morning started off with breakfast, which is quite different from the typical American breakfast. In France, they eat very light in the morning so my breakfast consists of one or two pieces of bread, some jam (which Lionel makes out of the fruits from their garden), and a hot drink. My stomach still didn't feel well so I went with tea again. The breakfast is, and continues to be, very good but it is so so light. I feel hungry after eating it! I suppose this is something my body will just have to adapt to...
Lionel took me to the Université for our first true day of the program. We started off the day with a bang: all of the students basically walk in to a french placement test. We had an hour and a half to complete a written test and then we were walked in groups to the oral segment of the test. This was definitely nerve-wracking but I felt oddly prepared to speak french with the professor. It must be all of the french I'm speaking with Lionel and Christine. When the test was done, Robina (one of our resident directors) walked us all over to Le Clerc- a nearby mall and shopping center. Here we got our pictures taken for student IDs and then we were free for lunch and roaming. I walked with a group of girls to buy bus tickets and then we went over to the phone store where I bought a phone with about 3 months worth of minutes. It was a little pricey but is something I need to have. Afterwards, my group and I walked back to the school for lunch. We went to the cafétéria called "La Vague" (the wave) and got the only food that was left: pork, mashed potatoes, and stewed vegetables. It sounds like a good, full meal but it was only 3 euro and that means that it didn't taste so good. ;)
After lunch, all of the students met in a specific classroom for the beginning of our mandatory orientation. The resident directors Ryan and Robina gave us each a folder with maps, and phone numbers, and all sorts of important information, and then began to walk us through it. After about two hours, they took us outside for a short campus tour and then we were free. We must have looked like our eyes were glazed-over because Robina kept ending her sentences with, "we're almost done!" Christine picked me up from there and after a short drive through downtown to the see the Château and the mountains, brought me back to my new home where I went upstairs to talk with my family online until dinner.
For dinner, we started off with the same soup (again, I was last to finish eating) and then we had the main course. Tonight it was a deli tray of pickles, rolled ham, chicken and some sort of other meat that Christine immediately said, "you will not like this; don't eat it."There was a salad of spinach, tomatoes, and avocado as well- a very good meal! For dessert, Emmanuelle made Un Gateau de Roi: "King's Cake" which comes with a Burger King-type crown on top and small porcelain figurine baked inside. Whoever finds the figurine in their piece of cake gets to wear the crown and be king or queen for the day. Guilhem was the king that night; something he was very happy about :)
My stomach still wasn't doing so well but I officially had my bags! They showed up at the house during the day and I was able to dig up some medicine for my stomach. The night was a little rough again but not so bad. I woke up ready for Day 4