The Most Fabulous of Weekends

Saturday: Got up early to get ready for my day in Lourdes! I met up with Roshanna, Allie, and Chantalle at school and we walked to our bus stop. Sadly, the bus decided to skip our stop or something because it came a half an hour after it was supposed to. Oh well, we had fun talking and making silly videos while we waited. When we finally got to the train station, the four of us were feeling super hungry from eating breakfast so early but we were also so excited: the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and we were off to have an adventure in France. Our other friend, Selene, met us there so we could buy our tickets together. There's a card you can buy at the train stations in France if you're between the ages of 12 and 25 and it gets you major discounts on tickets. Christine already told me that if I plan to take more than 2 trips by train (which I do) then it will pay for itself. Unfortunately, only Roshanna had one so it was about a 20 minute process for the guy at the counter to make each 12-25 pass for the other four of us, print all five departure tickets, and print all five return tickets. The people in line behind us were getting pretty annoyed, but what could we do about that?

Luckily, our train was also 20 minutes late so we made it to our platform with plenty of time to spare. Once on board and on our way, we were speechless from the beauty we saw out every window. I tried to take pictures but they didn't come out very well. Hopefully the video helps :)

It was a very pleasant 25 minute ride to Lourdes... I think I might do this all the time! 

We knew we wanted food right away when we got off the train but the reality is, you can't just get food anytime you want in France. If you want lunch, get it between 12p and 2p. If you want dinner, get it between 7p and 10p. We were hungry at 11a so we were out of luck. We decided to walk around and look for a place to eat while we were waiting for noon to roll around and saw the most beautiful sites! Lourdes is very small but, it not only used to be a fortified city, it is also the birthplace of Saint Bernadette and is home to the Grotto where Mary spoke to her. So while we came across about 200 people tops during the day, Lourdes was a very worthwhile place to visit. 

The Pyrenees

The Château!

Lourdes

Finally... lunch! We went to a little hole-in-the-wall place that serves the same menu every day: steak or chicken. You have an appetizer (soup or salad) and a dessert (no choices with that one). I got the crab salad for my appetizer and steak-frites for my main course. A french classic: steak and fries! It was very good but really well done. And for dessert, Tiramisu and coffee. Yum! It was a cute little place too. There were maybe two other parties total for lunch that day; and there were three cages hanging on the walls that had tiny yellow birds and one parrot inside. It was an interesting and quiet lunch experience.

My salad

Dessert

Coffee with Roshanna

After lunch, we took our time walking and admiring as we made our way towards the things on our list: the château, the Grotto, and the Basilica. If you don't know the story of Saint Bernadette, it goes something like this: 

Bernadette was born in Lourdes in the mid 1800s to parents who married for love instead of tradition. She was brought up in a strong, faithful, loving family but experienced many hardships. When she was young (a teenager, I believe) she became very sick with cholera and developed life-long asthma from the disease. Being sickly, her family made the difficult decision to send her away. After all, they were extraordinarily poor and sick Bernadette was another mouth to feed. She was sent to a home were she took care of 3 or 4 children as if she were their mother, all the while struggling with physical hardships. Basically, Bernadette was faced with incredibly difficult obstacles in life and most everything good in her life was taken away from her at some point. Most people give up when life goes this way, but Bernadette stayed true to her faith and never lost sight of God. One day she came to what is now the Grotto and prayed to Mother Mary. Mary was so impressed by Bernadette's ability to remain faithful when life has never been easy that she appeared before Bernadette to give her a gift. Mary brought forth a spring and told Bernadette that if she drank the water, she would be healed of her illness...

Okay, if you have heard the story before, please pardon my paraphrasing and any mistakes I have made. I heard the story for the first time today from Chantalle and then again in french.... which means I can't be too sure about how it all went. I can tell you, though, that I believe this story wholeheartedly. I believe  it is true because I want to believe something like that could be true. And also because of what I experienced today. For one, Chantalle told us a very interesting story: her cousin visited the Grotto many years ago to see the spot where Bernadette was cured. Chantalle said that her cousin had been diagnosed with cancer and had a tumor growing somewhere inside. But after drinking from the spring, the tumor slowly diminished into nothing. Don't believe it? That's alright. I DO. And how at peace my heart feels to believe something so miraculous has actually happened. Another reason I believe the story: the entire city of Lourdes seems to be constructed in honor of Saint Bernadette. Her natal home and the home she grew up in are open for tours, there is a glorious Basilica constructed around the Grotto in her honor, and millions of people have visited that spot to pray to Mary and to drink from the spring. It was a great experience for all five of us, and I know a few in our group were profoundly impacted by the Basilica and Grotto.

On our way to the Basilica

The Crucifixion and a make-shift cemetery in front of the Basilica

The Crucifixion, the statue of Mary, and the center of the Basilica are directly in line with each other. Something about Mary facing the Basilica, her hands folded in prayer, and her son hanging on the Cross behind her is very powerful.

Crown for a King

The Grotto

"Place where Bernadette prayed, February 11, 1858"

I felt magnificently at peace after our 2-hour walk through the Basilica and Grotto and was ready for the next phase of our adventure: the massive château! It cost us each about 5 euro to get into the château, which makes choosing to walk through it a no-brainer. We saw too many unique features of the building to share each one on here but I'll go over some of the more interesting details: there were tons of alcoves in the walls where soldiers used to hide to be protected from the enemy while still being able to fire at those coming up the staircases; there are hundreds of slits cut into the stone all around the castle so that soldiers can fire down on the enemy without being seen or fired upon (it's all very majestic now but if you think back to when this castle was truly in use as a fortress, it is somewhat terrifying- if you stand in front of a lot of those slits, you tend to have a dead-on view of on coming stairways); there was a beautiful garden where royalty could sit in luxury and enjoy the spectacular view of the surrounding hills; and so much more. The best part was when we made it up to the top level of the château and could see out over the entire city... it was absolutely breathtaking. I created a video of that too to help you see what I got to see :)

The château behind me :)

Goin' on up!

We've reached the top!

After the château, it was time to head back to the station. I bought some Lays potato chips on our way because I've been absolutely craving them this week, and then we enjoyed the view back to Pau. What a wonderful Saturday and successful first journey outside of our program site! I can't wait to do many more of this weekend excursions :) It was dinner time when we got back to the University so the four of us (Selene headed home) decided to finally check out the McDonald's across the street. Yea yea, I know: "McDonald's for dinner? But you're in FRANCE!" It was the closest and cheapest food at the time! Plus, it ended up being a rather cultural experience to eat at McDo (the french term for the place) because it was nothing like an American fast food place. The building is two stories full of slick, shiny tables and very modern wall hangings and decor. When you walk in, there are probably five thousand or so people crammed at the front counter, but that's okay- you can just type in your order on one of the SIX standing computers and wait for it to be ready at the counter. If that doesn't work, just wait for the lady with the little hand-held computer to come around to type in your order and print out your receipt. With that you can just hand it to one of the 5 or 6 people working the counter and wait for them to put your tray together. It somehow was a fancy-feeling McDonald's experience. The restaurant was so clean and the food looked liked it had truly been cooked by french people: not greasy! Plus, my crispy chicken sandwich came with citrus sauce instead of ketchup or mayonnaise. When do we get one of these in the States?!

All together, I loved my day today. But you could already tell that, right? I'll add one final touch: I got to talk to my parents on my french cell during my walk home and told them all about my day. During the call, Lionel called me because he was worried about where I was (it was getting late). He said, "ma fille Américaine n'est pas ici" (my American daughter isn't here).   =)

Goodnight all, and thanks for reading!

The Rest of Week Two

*I'm just going to sum up the rest of this week in one post*
Tuesday: Mostly my days this week have consisted of going to my french classes. There's not much to say about them yet but I can tell you that I like my teachers. I technically have one class a day but they happen in two sessions (one three hour period in the morning and a two hour period after lunch) and I have two teachers for all of these classes. My first, Mme Levieil, is fun but she tends to drag on and on whatever it is we are going over in class. My second teacher, Mme Baudry, I love. She's younger- probably 30- so she has a sense of humor like those of us in her class. She's very serious about teaching us french but she is very fun and tries to make jokes every once in a while to keep us focused. Don't be fooled, though- she is not a pushover. In our first class, for instance, she let it be known that if she hears us speaking english in her class we will be required to sing a song in french and she will pick the song. Phew! There's no way I won't be fluent by the end of this program; french is surrounding me everyday, my classes are entirely in french, and I'm not allowed to speak anything BUT french when I'm at school. Prepare for my english and grammar to slowly start declining as I fill my head with this second language...
I was invited to have dinner with my buddies tonight (Roshanna, Allie, and Chantalle). They all live in the residence halls so we crammed into Rosie's room and Allie and Chantalle each brought over a dish. Because I couldn't contribute to dinner I thought I'd go buy a dessert. Unfortunately, there wasn't a place open at the time I went so we mutually agreed I should bring the next best thing: a drink. Allie and Chantalle picked out a 2-liter plastic bottle of Sangria for less than 2 euro. I was good with it! I brought that and Allie shared a green apple liquor that she just "had to have." Needless to say it was a fun [safe] night with your typical college-kids-cooking-dinner-for-themselves food. Allie made scrambled eggs, Chantalle brought mashed potatoes, and Rosie made a really good asian-inspired soup. It was actually a pretty good meal and we had fun sitting around getting a little bit silly and telling stories. Plus, Roshanna (the opera singer) gave us a free concert of Disney songs after she had a little bit to drink.

Wednesday: Class again today but I had dinner at home. Tonight we had a broccoli and cheese soup and then.... pizza! Christine made a thin-crust, Italian style pizza with nothing but fresh tomato sauce, cheese, some green olives, and small pits of ham and bacon. It was delicious! Plus, and I am so doing this with pizza for the rest of my life, there was olive oil for dipping. OMG if you've never dipped [real] pizza in olive oil you are missing out. With that we had a rather strange but good salad of apple slices and something that looked like a cross-breed between onions and celery. I can't remember the name; it started with "e." Anyways, that was sliced with the apples and it was good, but I kind of didn't care about it with the pizza sitting there on my plate. During dinner, Christine told me that I don't speak french like most Americans: my pronunciation is very good and I don't have too thick of an accent when I speak! And Lionel agreed :)

Thursday: After class today I was invited to go downtown with a group of USAC students. I guess they've been going downtown to drink almost every night but they said they were going to dinner tonight. I knew it would get a little crazy, though, when we were walking from school to downtown and one of the guys- Tyler- pulled out a bottle of red wine from his bag and took a swig. That's a pretty hilarious sight in the middle of the day on a busy street.
When we got downtown, we grabbed a bench and everyone who had wine pulled out their bottles and started sharing. I bought myself "pain au chocolat," which is like a croissant pouch with thick chocolate inside, and we just enjoyed the experience. We sat there for a good couple of hours watching the sun set behind the Pyrenees. Got some fabulous pics!

It strikes me now, looking at these pictures, that they look photoshopped. And that's what makes them that much more incredible: all I did was hole up my camera and press the button.

I'm sad to say that the evening didn't end as well as it began. I should have expected this though because it's pretty common knowledge that people change when they drink. Unfortunately, some of the guys in our group become les cochons when they drink (in french: pigs). No harm done but they are thoroughly not in my good favor anymore. Oh well, I choose not to dwell. Especially not when I have a fabulous trip to Lourdes coming up on Saturday!

Friday: The last day of class for the week... whoo hoo! I finally just up and bought a photo ID card for the bus system for 15 euro and now I can use any bus in Pau whenever I need until February 13. So as great as it's been to walk to and from school, I'm going to start giving myself a break from the half hour workout. I took the bus home today by 3:30p and had plenty of time to enjoy my afternoon and relax. Christine woke up from a nap and watched the first half hour of Titanic with me in french :) When Guilhem came home from school he was supposed to start his homework but got distracted by the movie. I felt kind of bad for watching it in the living room and distracting him- especially because him and Christine started arguing pretty heavily after a little bit of that- but I honestly found something enjoyable in his distraction. I don't know what it reminded me of but hearing him go from writing furiously at the table behind me to feeling him standing right behind my head staring at the movie [off and on for 20 minutes] was so typical 13-year old.
For dinner, we had another orange colored soup (carrot and peanut I think) and then a pasta dish. Bow tie noodles, slices of a very small hot-dog looking meat, mushrooms, and sautéed vegetables with a light olive oil and herb dressing. Very tasty and a very good evening!
Tomorrow I'm going to Lourdes with my group of girls. We're going to spend the day doing whatever we can; hopefully we can see the château, museum, and cathedral. Lourdes is less than half an hour away by train so we should have plenty of time to enjoy our saturday there and make it home in time for sleep. I'm excited to tell you all about it tomorrow!
Goodnight

Week two

Monday: Today wasn't a terribly exciting day but it was relaxing. I slept in, ate breakfast, and read a book for a while. Lionel works about 10 min away and Guilhem's school serves very expensive lunch so they both come home for their two hour lunch break. We had last night's couscous salad to start, then thin slices of fried pork (in olive oil because that's healthier than butter) and very large helpings of crisp, fresh green beans. *By the way, I don't often mention it but you have at least one slice of bread with every meal.* After lunch, cheese and bread again. Then I was invited to watch Lionel as he made the new batch of dough for this week's bread. It took him no more than 5 min... I might actually be able to do this! When the dough was done, he left it to rise for a few hours and we went out to have our coffee and chocolates. Christine told me that my french is improving! She has so much confidence now that I will be very strong in french in no time at all. :)
Lionel had to drink quickly cause it was time for him to go back to work. Christine had some errands to run so she left as well and I went up to take my shower. When I got out, their cat Michat was there to beg at me for food. Cats are way different than dogs but he did make me think of Scamp and C.D. and how I miss them (maybe it was the begging that reminded me of them?)
I read for a while after my shower and have been on the computer ever since. Like I said, a slow day but I can't complain. Plus, the sun came out in all its glory today and the sky was blue. Unfortunately, the air was freezing cold so I couldn't have my window open, but I do think that was a little preview of what spring is like here. :)
The bread just came out of the oven and it smells heavenly! I can't wait to have some with dinner. I'll post this now but will add to it tonight after we eat. Naturally, you will all want to know what I had for dinner, right? ;)

After dinner: okay, bread- delicious! I hope I can make it the same way Lionel did. I think my mom would really like it if I knew how to make fresh, whole-grain, wheat bread. :) Something kind of cool- I was listening to music while I was working on my blog and it caught Lionel's ear. He came over and was like, "what is that music? I like it!" and that made me so happy. (If you've ever had dinner with us Christensen's, there's a good chance you've heard the same music: our Bistro CD). Also for dinner, we had the carrot and duck-flavored soup, salad, some ham, and leftovers from our dinner party (foie gras, homemade guacamole, etc). It was nothing special but a good dinner. Lionel is making me some tea now and then I'll get ready for bed. School starts tomorrow for me. I'm actually pretty excited to start my french classes; I want to be able to say so much more to Lionel, Christine, and Guilhem!
Goodnight

First Sunday

So I got up early today to get ready for our picnic in the mountains but the weather had changed over night and it started raining along the mountain range. =( The Pyrenees aren't very safe in bad weather conditions; a lot of the walking pathways are very narrow and hang over step drops. Plus, there can be very intense lighting that actually hits the ground up there. Basically, Christine and Lionel were not going to risk taking me up there today. It's a bummer but I know we'll go another day. We did, however, go on an absolutely breathtaking walk in the nearby hillside. But, I get ahead of myself...
It was the typical breakfast (bread, Nutella, my favorite raspberry jam, and tea) but lunch was something else. After breakfast, the family went to church- which I was cordially invited to but respectfully declined- so I had a little over an hour by myself in the house. I finished all of my unpacking, and walked around the place for a good 15 min snapping pictures of this and that. I figured I might want to remember the details of this house someday. When Lionel and Christine came home (Guilhem had gone directly to boy scouts from church) Lionel took me out to his garden to pick some herbs for lunch. I was seriously surprised by what I saw out there. Of course there were the usually mint and fruit plants, but there were a lot of plants that I would normally call weeds or something like that. One of them looked like one of those typical, lack-luster trees that people plant in front of their house when they don't have anything else to put out there, but the leaves had an incredibly pungent, delicious smell. I smelled a lot of different things but we had gone out there for mint leaves; that's what the meal called for.
We had a cold couscous "salad" to start. It had tomatoes, green olives, white raisins, greek goat cheese cubes, cucumber, and the freshly cut mint leaves (I'm sure there are more things in there too but I don't know what everything is) and it was absolutely delicious! That was served with what sort of resembled fried hamburger patties but they had a totally different texture and weren't greasy. There was a whole-grain mustard on the table too and boy am I so glad that I tried it! It was so so perfect with the beef and had so many complex flavors inside. Mmm mmm was this a good lunch. Afterward, we had cheese, bread and a little red wine. I tried all four cheeses that were on the table and ended up loving most the one I was warned was the strongest. Naturally, it comes from the Pyrenees. :) After this delightful snack, the three of us moved to the living room for coffee and chocolates (Lionel still loves the See's candies I gave them). Lionel went off to take a nap after that and Christine and I looked through some of her family pictures. She showed me some weddings they've gone to in the past few years, her parents, and her sister's home in Bordeaux. It was very nice to spend some time with her :)

 When Lionel woke up, it was time for our walk. I don't think I can express to you the awe I felt walking in that place; I literally can only show you the pictures, which don't do it justice. Just try to picture yourself standing on the side of the road being surrounded on all sides by these sights (if you're doing it right, you should feel very small and very speechless/breathless).

We walked for a good hour and half and then had to leave to pick up Guilhem. Being quite in need of refreshment after such long journey- well, I was in need of refreshment; Lionel and Christine do that walk together EVERY SUNDAY- we had hot drinks in the living room. This time I had hot chocolate. It was sweet but very mild and very creamy: pleasant and just what I needed. After that, Chrisine, Lionel and I had a chance to talk with my family through ichat. A great experience! My parents not-so-subtly told my hosts that they must now be guests in our house in America...  an idea I totally love. 

We had to say bye when it was time for dinner; something I was honestly not to sad to do (sorry family!) because we were going to have crêpes that night! First came the usual winter soup (carrot with essence of duck) and then the savory crêpes: raw/smoked salmon, herbed cream cheese, and lettuce. I'm sad to say I didn't love the salmon. It was very fishy tasting and almost bitter, but I politely ate the whole thing. I'm proud of how well I've been managing eating all of my food here. It seems like being thrown into a new world is all it takes to force you to gather the strength to eat whatever is in front of you and keep a brave face.

After dinner, the sweet crêpes. I cut mine in half in order to have two and I made one with Nutella and one with my favorite raspberry jam. I was about to bite into my first crêpe when all of a sudden, every light in the dining room and living room slowly started to dim. They when down nearly to black, then flickered annoyingly five or six times and died completely. Yep, we were sitting at the table in almost pitch darkness (there was a small light that survived in the kitchen) trying to enjoy our dessert. I'm not really sure why but Guilhem found this whole event to be beyond hilarity. Now, to properly picture this whole scene you need a sense of Chrisine and Guilhem's relationship. That boy is always talking, like ALL of the time. He talks at every meal, he talks to himself, he talks to the TV, he never ever shuts up. I have no clue what he's talking about but I can tell you it almost always irks Christine and Lionel, and at some point an argument ensues. Christine does a lot of scolding Guilhem and he does a lot of whining back; just like your typical mother-being-fed-up-with-her-mile-a-minute-13-year-old relationship in the States. That in itself is funny for me because I'm already sitting there thinking, "what in the world is he talking about and to who?!" and "can you please cut it out now? You're annoying me," and that's usually about when Christine snaps. So again, we're at the table when the lights go out and Guilhem starts babbling about something and ends in near-tears laughter. Christine is trying to get him to settle down so her and Lionel can figure out what just happened when Guilhem totally loses it: usually his laughs are the kind teenagers use when they know they're being annoying but this time he absolutely broke into belly-laughs. Finally, the best part, Christine couldn't help it and burst into laughter too. I have no idea what was so funny to Guilhem but the two of them laughing got me going too. Oh what an experience... and all because the power went out!

*Eventually the power died up stairs too so the whole house was out, but it all came back up within the hour. I guess some house nearby had the same problem so it wasn't a local problem caused by my American appliances. Phew!*

When the power came back up, I was able to talk to my family on ichat for over an hour. A perfect way to end the evening. :)

The first day of the first weekend

Saturday: I was told I could sleep until whenever today... so I did! haha We watched the Chronicles of Narnia- Prince Caspian until well after 11p last night and my body did not like that. I was happy to sleep until I woke up today and I think it was the first night I actually slept all the way through the night (hopefully a good sign that I'm adjusting?). I woke up and did stuff on the computer for about two hours, took a shower and went down for breakfast. I was definitely the only one who hadn't eaten yet; oh well. I had two pieces of bread (one with Nutella, one with Lionel's raspberry jam) and tea. After breakfast, I spent some much needed time in my bedroom to finish the unpacking process. And pretty soon after that it was time for lunch... my first lunch with the family. *Side note, Emmanuelle has been with us every day but she left for school yesterday so now it is only Lionel, Christine, Guilhem, and I.* For lunch- get ready- we had backed chicken and potatoes. To start, julienned carrots with black olives (something that was so much tastier than I expected that I helped myself to seconds) and then came the main course. The chicken was so juicy and tender that I almost didn't need a knife, and the potatoes were crispy with olive oil and chicken juice. Hungry yet? :)
After lunch, we passed around a bowl of fruit. I had an apple but wished I could have been Guilhem; he had a banana and helped himself to the Nutella as well. When everyone had had enough fruit, Christine invited me into the kitchen to scoop myself some coffee. There were two types and I decided to go with the less strong and slightly sweet of the two. The coffee is so finely ground that it goes directly into your mug as if you were making chocolate milk. After the water, you add your milk or cube of sugar if needed. It was the best coffee I may have ever had! The four of us took our drinks to the living room and sat around sipping hot drinks and eating chocolate. I decided that was a good time to finally give my gifts to the family. I bought Christine and Lionel "Mom" and "Dad" mugs, Guilhem got a ball cap, and I gave a very pretty ornament to the family- all from Disneyland. And my parents bought three types of See's candies to give to them as well. I have never had more fun giving gifts! Guilhem was ridiculously adorable about his hat, which was a relief because I wasn't sure if french boys wear ball caps. And Christine and Lionel loved their mugs. Lionel couldn't keep his hands off of the See's candy, and Christine wanted the ornament on their Christmas tree right away. Later in the day, she told me how many of the ornaments on their tree were gifts, and that each year as they go up she is reminded of the person who gave it to her. So every Christmas, Christine will put up my ornament and think of me :)

Guilhem with his new hat and a See's Candy sucker

Our after-luch tray with some of the presents

My ornament to the family, on their tree

In the afternoon, Christine and I went to Le Clerc to fix a problem with my cell phone (which we did fix, thanks to her) and then went grocery shopping for dinner. As we were driving towards the Le Clerc parking lot, Christine noticed a spot we had just slightly passed. She turned sharply to the left to backtrack and pull in but the car right behind us cut in front and took the spot. The only other spot just happened to be right next to that car. *Cue french style of dealing with annoying drivers* After parking, Christine gets out with absolutely no intention of letting that other driver go without understanding how rude he was to her. They start arguing and I just kind of sat there quietly, pretending I wasn't really there. You'd be wrong to picture Christine and this man getting in each other's face pointing fingers; for, they were certainly arguing but a lot of the time Christine didn't bother looking at him. She was getting things out of the car. It was the most calm argument I've ever witnessed- I didn't even know what they were saying! She told me after that he had apologized and hadn't realized Christine wanted that spot. I guess she told him that he was a nice person and that he shouldn't lose that. She told me that it's important to encourage people when they have kindness in them.

After grocery shopping, Christine took me to the local library where I checked out two movies in french- Titanic and Enchanted- and three french CDs. If french music and movies don't quite tickle your fancy, just know that I am tingling with excitement about having these things for a few weeks :)

Dinner was a wonderful experience: I was invited to have a friend over and asked Roshanna to come for dinner. Lionel and I picked her up from the student residence building and brought her back to the house around 6:45p. Roshanna and I got to spend some time talking and getting to know each other better before dinner and that was great. For dinner, it seems like we went all out. Rather than eating at the table, we ate in the living room next to a blazing fire and were accompanied by Christmas music from Christine's childhood. There wasn't a main course tonight but we had a lot of small dishes to choose from- foie gras, bread, small cheese/tomato bakes, codfish-egg tarts, fresh guacamole, tangy salsa, and vegetables for dipping. Lionel served Roshanna and I two different drinks- one was a sweet white wine from Spain and the other was also sweet but was only meant to go with the foie gras. Speaking of which, if you haven't had foie gras before then don't eat it in big chunks. The texture, the taste, and the reality of what it is each need to be accepted by the eater separately. I know foie gras is a delicacy, but I think I will need many more experiences to eat it the way Christine and Lionel ate it tonight. Roshanna's an opera singer and offered us a small concert after dinner, which was absolutely fantastic. I've never heard opera without music but it is actually very beautiful. Christine and Lionel enjoyed that a great deal and appreciated that Roshanna and I both tried our best to communicate in french throughout the evening. It was a completely wonderful evening and Roshanna, as my friend, passed the test- she's welcome at the house anytime she wants. :)
It's time for bed; we're having a picnic in the mountains tomorrow so are leaving in the morning. Before I go, let me just say that I am also having a ton of interaction with Lionel but it is very different than with Christine. With Lionel, all communication is done in french and is almost entirely him telling stories. It is an absolute shame that my french isn't better because I can't understand everything he's telling me and I know it is all invaluable. For instance, he has talked to me about the French Revolution, how that was a time of great shame for the french and is not something they are proud of today, a lot about world war II and so forth. There is so much more; today alone, Lionel talked at me for a total of at least 3 hours. I am very frustrated that I can't share with all of you what he's sharing with me, but I can hope to understand it all by the end of my four months here.
Bed time. Thanks for reading these super long stories. Good night!

Day 6

I had my first class today- Business in the EU. Fortunately for me, it didn't start until 11:15a so I could sleep in/recover a little bit from all of last night's walking and staying up until 1:45a on my blog. When I came down for breakfast, Christine was the only one still home and she was sounding very frustrated with whoever it was she was on the phone with. I had the usual waiting for me on the table: bread, jam, and tea, but a new and wonderful addition was there as well... Nutella!!!!! It wasn't the same brand as Nutella but was essentially the same spread. Boy was it delicious! I had two slices today just to have more Nutella :)
When I was done eating, Christine was wrapping up her (now) argument on the phone. She hung up a few minutes later and then went on in english about this most "unpleasant" woman on the phone. We talked for the next half hour about how she wanted to schedule an appointment for Guilhem with their optometrist and how the woman she spoke to was so unpleasant and rude. Christine told me that in France there aren't very many optometrists so you often have to wait 9 months or more to be seen. According to the woman Christine talked to, they had missed an appointment five years ago so were taken off the list and could not see the doctor. The whole thing was just so different from how things work in the States and in a way, it was so much fun to listen to Christine fume about this situation. It was terribly frustrating for her, I don't mean to belittle that, but it was also somewhat educational for me.
I walked to school this morning and with each step, I could feel the residual fatigue from last night's trek. My legs are officially sore and painful today, but I know this is something I must adjust to. Walking is the way to go in Pau! I was late to class but it was no big deal, as it's the first day. I don't want to let it happen again though. I already have too much practice being late for things and this is the place to try something new! XD
I think I'm going to enjoy my elective class; Ryan (our director) is my teacher and the class is small. It should be pretty easy going and interesting. After class, I went with my new friend Monica to the third and last eatery on campus, where I had un Croque Monsieur (something I've been wanting to try for at least 5 years)! Again, 3 euro. It was a good lunch :)

I'm sorry to say that not much else happened today. I had planned to go downtown again for dinner and fun but my legs were hurting too much for that. I did, however, find out my level for my french classes. I'm in Groupe C which is at least better than basic (there's A-F and 3 advanced classes). And a lot of really nice and fun people seem to be in that group too (including Roshanna)! The french professors put us in groups so that they can organize the weekly schedule. So for everyone in my group, our weeks- until March 25- will look like this:

*Mon- free day

*Tue- 8a-11a

          1p-3p

*Wed- 9a-12p

            1p-3p

*Thu- 9a-12p

           1p-3p

*Fri- 9a-12p
         1p-3p
Once I had my schedule I took my time walking home and taking pictures along the way. I worked on my blog for a few hours and then went downstairs to talk with Christine. Their house has had at least one worker in it every day since I've been here because they're remodeling a guest bedroom. Christine gave me a tour of the construction, told me what everything would become, and then I watched her prepare dinner: Quiche Lorraine! And oh my goodness it was delicious! She had a thin crust sitting in a dish on the counter, sprinkled Emmental cheese around the bottom, scattered cubes of raw bacon on top (which is totally different from American bacon), poured an egg and milk mixture on top, and then baked it. It was incredibly simple and incredibly delicious. And of course, to start that meal we had soup. This time it was broccoli and cheese soup and was also very good. After dinner, we watched the Chronicles of Narnia- Prince Caspian (in french) with our dessert. Christine had to "propose" this to Lionel because he likes to watch an ocean documentary on fridays. I had a nutella-tasting mousse for dessert and Guilhem offered me a bowl of his candy- bon bon- from the holidays. All in all, it was a very good evening and I was thoroughly exhausted!
Tomorrow we're having a dinner party in the evening and foie gras will be served. I've been told to invite one or two friends from USAC :) Talk to you all tomorrow

Day 5

So today was amazing! The day started off with a breakfast for all foreign students (Pau hosts students from other programs besides USAC) that was put on by a foreign students association at school. All 60+ of us walked over to Le Clerc where there's a restaurant upstairs. I think we took up almost all of the booths and tables in the place. To celebrate l'Épiphanie- the day the three wise men made it to the manager and met the King- we were served a hearty breakfast of true french café (coffee) and one slice of sweet bread *note sarcasm.* There were at least 15 of us who went up for second slices.... our stomachs are definitely not shrinking quickly enough. What's interesting about the sweet bread is it was also called King's Cake (for king Jesus); each round of bread had a figurine inside and crown for the lucky finder. The King's Cake that Emma (Emmanuelle) made had a flaky, sugary crust on top and a bean-texture filling. But our breakfast was like bread with sugar kernels on top. I must say, I liked this one better :)

That coffee already has two helpings of cream in it, by the way.

I spent the breakfast with a group of girls who are officially my buddies: Roshanna (pronounced rose-anna), Selene, Chantalle, and Allie. We talked for at least two hours and the conversation flowed naturally. It's so relieving to feel like you have a niche in a strange place!

Allie, Rosie, Me, Selene

After breakfast, Allie, Rosie, and Chantalle had their first class so Selene and I walked around the shops at Le Clerc for about two hours. I bought 4 shirts that I am absolutely in love with! There's a big thing going on in France right now called Les Soldes (the Sales). It's one of a very few times each year that pretty much anything you have to spend money on to get is marked down a great deal. We're all trying to take advantage of the sales, but it's a little difficult when everyone else in France has the same idea! Selene and I also figured out how to work the printer at a copy shop and were able to complete all of the necessary paperwork for the end of the Visa process. We turned that in today to Ryan so we should be good for the next few weeks (at some point everyone has to get a check up with a doctor??) After that, the two of us walked and talked around the campus... got some beautiful pics of the place!

In the grocery store XD

Mmm mmm!! A bakery in Le Clerc

When the rest of our group got out of class, we all went over to a second, bigger cafétéria on campus to hopefully find some better food. We did! At the big cafeteria you can order baguette sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, mousse, desserts, coffee, lots of good stuff! And a meal is still only 3 euro for students :) I got a baguette with lettuce, tomato, ham, and hard boiled egg slices and it was soooo good. I actually felt full after eating it too so that was a major bonus. That evening, the four of us girls (Selene wasn't feeling well and went home) met up with a year-long student named Chai. She's been in Pau since last semester and knows the place well. She took about 7 of us on the bus to downtown Pau for some authentic Indian food (my first experience with such food). We went to Visnu which is apparently the best Indian restaurant in town and had the first floor entirely to ourselves until the end of our meal. Chai's been to the restaurant enough times that the bartender gave us all the house cocktail with a free refill and free rolls of fried eggplant. The whole meal was so good and it was really fun to try all of the different sauces and dips and whatnot. I had Chicken Korma- chicken in an almond cream sauce with raisins- and rice. But I also had something off of many other plates (Chai was delighted to find that we were all good with one of her favorite things: plate-sharing). Chantalle ordered herself a small bottle of rosé and Allie and Chai split a bottle of red... well, that was the plan. It turns out that none of them good drink all of that on their own so everyone at the table pitched in to help finish the drinks. I actually liked the red wine which, if you know me, is definitely saying something.

After dinner, we realized that the bus system was closed for the evening so we had to walk all the way back to the université- a 20 min walk. My new friends were so concerned about me walking home by myself from there that five of them decided to walk 20 min more to get me there and then the 20 min to get back. So nice, right?! All in all, it was a truly great day. I made new friends, had great food, and experienced the downtown area as if I belonged there. Not to mention the super chic shirts I bought today too :) I'm definitely beginning to enjoy myself in Pau

Day 4

Today started with breakfast (which I was finally able to eat without feeling completely sick) and then Christine walked me the half hour trek to school. I have the option of taking the bus to and from school but it is definitely cheaper to walk when I can. It was really nice to walk for so long with Christine because she was in the mood for practicing english! :) We talked a lot about family (hers and mine) and french ideas about health. For instance, 'walking is not only better for you than riding in a car but it is also nice to the environment.' I got the sense from our conversation that the french frown upon American eating habits when Christine told me about a very "shocking" experience she had on her first trip to American where she saw... an obese woman! (The topic of obesity and over-weight people became something of a source of humor for Guilhem at dinner. He and Emmanuelle talked about overweight people as if they only exist in magazines or movies. It went something like: "are there really fat people in America?!" "Oui." "HAHAHAHAHA").

At school, we finished up our orientation and then were free again for lunch. By the way, lunch is not just a necessity in France... it is an occasion. Rarely will you have less than 2 hours for lunch and rarely will restaurants bother to be open during non-lunchtime or non-dinnertime hours. You eat when everyone eats and you eat well. I went with a different group to "La Vague" where they were serving raviolis and a gray, fish-looking item. I got the raviolis and a piece of bread... 3 euros again. After lunch, we had a lot of time to kill so we walked around the campus and through the library. It was actually a lot of fun to just talk and walk with these people; I was able to get to know them a lot better.

Pictures from our walk:

After the walk, we went back to the classroom for a short talk about the end of the Visa process. We all have to fill out this form (OFII) and make copies of different things in our passports. Then we send the whole batch off to a certain office and our Visas are good and done. Make sense? It doesn't for me either.

"La Vague" named after the wave shape of the roof:

Now the fun part: we all departed for a walking tour of downtown Pau! It was so incredibly beautiful and is full of old world charm. After the walk, some students stayed to hang out in the area but I decided to go with the group that wanted to go back to the Université. Because, I was making the 20 min walk home all by myself. That morning with Christine was my first time doing it so I was nervous but confident. I did make time to stop in Le Clerc before with some girls my trek to buy water bottles (the French don't drink as much water as we do)... bad idea. It was sprinkling during my whole walk home so I had my umbrella out in one hand and had to juggle these hugely heavy water bottles with the other. For 20 min! Which, of course, ended up being 30 min when I got myself lost and had to turn around. I was truly beat when I got to the house but I was very proud of myself for accomplishing that little milestone. :)

Dinner tonight was the soup, again, but with a different and delicious entrée: une omelette! It doesn't look like an American omelette because it isn't folded over but lays flat in the bottom of the pan. It was plenty buttery and had some herbs and mushrooms inside. Mmmm mmmm! Accompanying that was a corn, cucumber, tomatoe, and black olive salad. And for dessert, the leftover King's Cake. Another fine meal. Throughout the evening I was able to unpack and talk to my dad on ichat. After Guilhem was in bed, Christine met both of my parents through an audio chat on the computer. Spencer joined at one point and Sabrina jumped in too... I was so happy to have everyone talk to each other! Christine told me afterwards that talking with my family meant a lot to her and the gratitude they expressed for her and Lionel bringing me into their home was much appreciated by her. I hope we can do this again soon :)

Pictures from downtown Pau:

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

The first few days

Bonjour!
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update all of you but my bags didn't quite make it with me to Pau so I've been without a way to charge my laptop...
Days 1 & 2: I survived the hardest parts of the trip- saying goodbye to my family and my home and managing to get through three different flights. It was as difficult as I expected to part with my family at the airport but I hadn't expected the amount of emotion that came from Spencer and Sabrina. (Not to embarrass them) they both fell apart! At the same time that I could hardly stand saying goodbye, I was so touched to witness the obvious strength in the connections between the five of us. After that, I went through security and the hassle of taking off and unpacking everything electronic and what not (all with my family watching, teary-eyed) and then I waved my final goodbye and went forth to my terminal. I met two girls from the same USAC program while waiting for my plane so I didn't feel too alone after that. The flight to Chicago was about 4 hours but felt longer. However, it didn't feel nearly as long as the 8 hour drag to Paris. Thankfully I met many more students while waiting for that flight so I recognized a lot of faces when we got off in Charles de Gaulle (Paris). Did I mention that I checked two 50-pound bags and had with me a heavy carry-on and 200,000,000-pound back pack??? I was so dreading the customs process in Paris because I expected to have to re-check my bags- which would mean hauling all of that weight around by myself- and have my carry-ons rifled through by security. Luckily, customs ended up being nothing more than a stamp in my passport. And while I was sooo happy to not have to man-handle all of that weight from my luggage, I'm thinking this is where my bags were misplaced. After the short hour and half flight to Pau (which feels much shorter when you pass out on the plane from exhaustion) I found out that I was one of three students whose bags didn't make it to Pau. Oh well, c'est la vie. My host mom Christine was in the airport to meet me. She kissed me once on each cheek- the French way- and then talked with a woman at Information about my bags. They arrived on that second day (January 4) at my host family's home (thanks to Christine) and I am so incredibly relieved to have all of my things. Christine has been so kind and generous... she lent me a nightgown and shampoo/conditioner while I waited for my luggage to arrive...
Needless to say, I was exhausted when we got to the house! I had been up for more than 24 hours and all of a sudden I was entering a stranger's house in the middle of the day while my body was craving the middle of the night. I felt sick from all of the traveling but hungry at the same time. Christine made me a snack while I settled in with my lack of baggage upstairs: a plate of four whole cheeses (at least one was a brie), some bread, a tangerine, and hot tea. I ate as much as I could but the more that went down, the more sick to my stomach I felt. While I was eating, I met Christine's youngest daughter Emmanuelle (18). She was asking me questions in rapid-fire french and, as I could understand maybe three of them, it was an awkward conversation. Eventually she went into the living room to watch TV with Guilhem (13). Sick with the flu, the poor guy was asleep on the couch when I got there. I finished off my tea and then went upstairs to take a nap. I think I slept for close to three hours and felt enormously better when I woke up. When I went downstairs, Lionel was waiting to greet me. He's a very nice man as had been sharing a lot of his personal interests and thoughts with me since I got here.
For dinner, we had a nice hot soup of carrots, potatoes, onions, and pumpkin. Naturally, I was the last one eating. When I realized this, I quickly sopped up the rest of the soup with my homemade wheat bread and on came the next course. We had tarte des tomates- a tomato tart. It looks similar to a flatbread pizza or quiche but is very thin and not at all saucy. It had cheese, herbs, and whole slices of tomato baked inside and Christine served it in slices that were cut with scissors. Finally, there was a spinach salad to eat with the tart. It was a very delicious meal but unfortunately I was still not feeling well. Throughout dinner I talked (in french, the best I could) with Christine and Lionel. Of course, they did most of the talking, but at least I can understand most of what they are saying to me; I just can't yet respond all that well. When we were done getting to know each other better, I went up to take a shower and get ready for bed. I was able to talk to my family on ichat for a bit- which made me terribly homesick- and then I crashed for the night (which was about 9:30p). I tossed and turned all night long with my yucky-feeling stomach but woke up with enough energy to start the next day...

                       Busy, crowded Paris                Green, spacious Pau