This week since I’ve been back from Glasgow has been
interesting. Well, I guess now it’s been two weeks. The weeks are flying by,
and I am started to dread having to leave my friends here. I started
babysitting my precious girl, Marth, this week. Her family is originally from
France, but they have been living in the USA for the past two years, and their
oldest child (Marth) speaks English very well because of having lived in
America. This had to have been the most ideal time for her to live in America,
because now as a four-year-old, she speaks both French and English FLUENTLY.
Better than me I would say. There are of course words that she does not know,
and between French and English, we are always able to understand each other.
Her parents wanted me to babysit her and speak English to her in order that she
would not lose her language skills. The first day I spent with her, she spoke
English with me, but by the end of an hour, it was no longer a game to her, and
she didn’t want to speak English anymore haha. I was very afraid that she would
hate me from then on. BUT, I bribed her to speak English this last time by
telling her that it was like our secret language because none of her friends at
school understand English. She was beyond thrilled to have this “secret
language,” and I smiled smugly to myself as I had accomplished to keep her from
being angry with me for the next two months! I am able to see the inside of a
French “home” due to this job, and might I say that I thoroughly enjoy
Americans’ big houses, cars, Big Macs, and anything else “oversized.” Sometimes
I wonder how people could happily
live in this kind of environment when they are fully capable of living in a
huge house in the suburbs.
Marth being showing off her silly faces
Mom sent me a box last week as well It took long enough to
arrive, but it was WELL worth every day that I checked for the mail. THANK
YOU!!!!!!!!! I only cried a little when I got it (or I might have sat on my bed
and cried for thirty minutes hugging my ranch and peanut butter…maybe). I
learned that the word for a box is« coulis ».Some days the people in the secretariat
are nice, other days, not so much. The day I checked for the box, the guy knew
my name and everything before I even said “bonjour” (probably because I had
asked him the same question literally every day for a week). But then I had to
use the laverie in the residence (I don’t normally use that one) to dry my
clothes because they weren’t fully dried, and the woman I encountered was down
right hateful.I have learned how
extremely difficult it is to express myself fully in another language,
especially when it is extreme anger/impatience or extreme happiness. When I got
the box, I could not contain myself, and I spoke English to EVERYONE. I
couldn’t let the words flow as easily in French, so I just switched to English,
because I knew they would understand me. And when the woman was hateful to me,
it took everything I had to not switch over to English in order to ask for the
key to the laverie. That’s all I wanted, but somehow she couldn’t enough words
out of her mouth to explain to me what I needed to do. All she kept saying was,
“Tu dois avoir la carte.” I think she said it five times to me. I understood
fully the content of what she said, but I did not understand what card she was
talking about! Through each experience, however, I feel myself improving in my
language skills. It is difficult, but it has to be done. I have to be more patient than the person I am dealing
with in order to get the answer I need.
Box with Ranch, peanut butter, bacon, and Easy Mac :)
Henrique, Pri and I before our French test
And finally, the stress.
We (Henrique, Pri and I) took our FIRST exam this week. We are now, what, five weeks into the
semester? Six weeks? I don’t know (I lost count after that first three hour Law
seminar completely in French – my brain turned to mush). But it is incredibly
that this is the first written work I have had to do all semester. I have ZERO
accountability, and it is beyond stressful. I don’t know how the final exams
will be administered. I don’t know how much I have honestly learned here, and I
feel as if my brain is slowly turning to porridge despite the fact that I feel
PHYSICALLY worn out after each and every class session. Despite all this,
things are getting easier to understand, and I am actually able to take several
pages of notes without needing to look at someone’s computer anymore. I am
finally able to understand these people!! Woo! (Only a month and a half too
late). But I decided to document our first test, so here are those pictures. We
have gone crazy from the intense pressure of this educational system. And of
course, you have Priscila who likes to sit in the hallway and cry over YouTube
videos while I am dying in my Sociologie Politique course ;)
On the bus on our way to Campus for the test
**Side note: Nathalie went to Berlin with Henrique, Bea and Pri.
She had a fantastic time making up for her lost trip to Glasgow. And
apparently, she speaks better English AND German than the other three
Brazilians ;) She touched the Berlin Wall, and she was able to have a drink or
two in the hotel bar.
Henrique pledging to keep Nathalie safe and never lose her
Bea, Pri, and Nathalie having drinks
**Interesting thing: There are these Arabic weddings (I'm not sure if it's a Muslim thing, or Arabic, I'm not meaning to offend anyone with this term though)
that like to drive through town in a huge train of cars honking their horns
obnoxiously. I always forget to take pictures, but this time I got one!
Apparently it is a common thing for them to do, and it most always happens
every Saturday. I don’t know why I find this so interesting, but it reminds me
of the Trojan Train at my old high school and the Rush Dinner trains that we
have at Emory.
Arabs making circles around the round-about honking their horns for the wedding
** Tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY. I hope to not have an egg
cracked on my head by José Lucas, and I will probably forget to buy myself a
cake (like Marcelo did for his birthday). I will get to listen to birthday song singing in
Portuguese from Bea, Pri and Henrique, and Rafael and Wendell will of course be in
attendance to my so-called “party” (according to Pri). I have a wonderful
adopted family to celebrate with, and though I am so far away from my friends
and family, I know they are all thinking of me. Sing to me across the ocean! Grands Bisous pour tous <3
In case the world didn't know, I went to GLASGOW this weekend. It was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to speak English (even though I couldn't understand half of what was being said), and experiencing a completely different culture a mere 600 miles away from France was impressive. I am so accustomed to everyone speaking the same language, wearing almost the same clothes, and using the same currency in America that it is almost as if I stepped into a different world from France to Scotland. You figure, I travel more than 600 miles throughout America to visit my grandparents in Florida!
But anyway, first thing's first...I DID NOT BRING NATHALIE TO GLASGOW. I was afraid of being made fun of, so I neglected to bring her. But I ended up being made fun of for NOT bringing her! There was much disappointment that Nathalie was left out of this adventure considering this entire blog is devoted to her! I will make sure to bring her next time!
We arrived extremely late on Friday night after walking from
the residence to the bus station, taking a bus from Amiens to Beauvais, taking
a plane from Beauvais to Prestwick, taking a bus from Prestwick to Glasgow, and
then taking a taxi to the Youth Hostel. The plane was extremely late to pick us up from Beauvais, and by then I was already very tired, so you can imagine how tired I must have been by the time we actually got to Glasgow. When we got to the hostel, the boys were hungry, so we of course
had to go out at 3 in the morning to find something to eat. We found this
little café that was still open for the clubbers (as the receptionist told us).
After eating, we of course crashed in bed for a couple hours before waking up
the next morning at 8am to get going on the short weekend! It was very awkward
for me to have to walk into a pitch-black room with three other random girls
and have to crawl into the top bunk after trying to find my bed in the first
place! It was an interesting experience to have to do all of this in the dark.
The hostel was extremely nice. It was in a very old building that seemed as if
it could have been a very old house. It reminded me a lot of the house in the
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. When I woke up the next morning, I rolled
over to find a Chinese girl getting ready for the day. She looked at me and
said, “Good morning!” just as I say it. I think that it made my day a million
times better to have someone say good morning to me, not only because it was in
my native language, but also because it’s also nice to be told good morning.
The Chinese girl had been studying in Costa Rica, and she came to Scotland just
to visit.The other girl that was
in the room (the fourth one must have left very early) was from England I
think. They were both very sweet, and it confirmed my belief that people who
stay in hostels are quite nice.
On Saturday we decided to do all the things in the city that
were free. The receptionist gave us a few good suggestions, and we set out to
accomplish all of them in the day and a half that we had in Glasgow. The city
was fairly small, so we walked everywhere. It was tiring, and by the end of the
first day, I was extremely worn out. Needless to say, my shoes are now going to
be thrown in the trash. The first thing we visited on Saturday was the
Lighthouse. It gave us a nice panoramic view of the city. Inside the lighthouse
was a sort of mini art gallery dedicated to Mackintosh (some sort of furniture
designer). I also found some free postcards that I will keep for myself. I sent
the purchased post cards back home and to Ireland :)
We went to the Gallery of Modern Art (also free), which
was interesting, but nothing exciting. I found it more interesting that they
had Burger King, T.K. Maxx (not TJ Maxx) and KFC in Scotland! We don’t have
those kinds of stores in France, so it was nice to see something from home. It
makes me wonder at why they have those restaurants in Glasgow, but not in
Amiens. There was a very large event held in the city centre called the Great
Scottish Run. I would say that maybe two thousand people were taking part in
this run throughout the city. There were many activities in the main area of
the city centre (George Square).We also ran into these street performers called Clanadonia. They were
playing traditional Scottish music, and we ended up staying to watch them for
30 minutes maybe!
We also visited the Glasgow Cathedral and the adjacent
Necropolis (a graveyard for famous people). By this time, I was extremely
hungry (“estou con fome” in Portuguese), and I did not take many mental notes
of what I saw. We went to a little store called Merchant Chippie. We ate good
fish and chips! We also got another Irn Bru (pronounced Iron Brew but with
rolled “r’s”). José Lucas is literally in love with this drink. I think
throughout the course of the weekend, he bought five of them. It’s like a crème
soda, but with a bit less of a taste. My favorite part of the drink was the
name. I loved hearing the Scottish people say it…it was so…Scottish haha. The Necropolis was my favorite part of the city. As I sat on one of the tombstones, I wondered out loud why the grass was so green. José suggested that maybe because it was well fertilized haha. The view from the Necropolis was amazing. You could see the cathedral right below it, and the whole city had a very moviesque feel to it.
Some other funny things… Rafael was scared to death by a bus
in the street. We were on the right side of the road, and he was walking with
his head down. When he looked up, there was a bus coming straight towards him
(the cars are on the opposite side of the road in Scotland)! We all got a good
laugh out of it as he jumped out of the way…even though he was already on the
sidewalk.José also had issues with
the cars being on the wrong side of the road. He would walk right out in the middle of the lane where cars were stopped at a stoplight thinking he was standing in front of parked cars. He had to be pulled out of the way a few times haha. So many people had colored hair in Scotland. I have no idea why they decided to color their hair blue, red, purple, orange, but it was incredibly odd to me.
That night we also explored the pubs a bit. We went to four pubs, but the last one was the best. The music was very good (almost all 90s music), and the people were extremely friendly! They all wanted to dance and sing with us all night! I chose just to sit in my bench and people watch because by then it was around 2 or 3 in the morning and I was exhausted! After the pubs, we crawled our way back to the youth hostel to crash in bed for a few hours before getting up again for the next morning!
Sunday was not so eventful because we had done almost all the free things on Saturday, so we just visited the University of Glasgow where I found a unicorn, José broke his watch, Rafael was bolado, and Marcelo took plenty of pictures. I was extremely happy to finally hear "quatrième étage" when arriving back to my room in Castillon. It was only 10pm when we got back, but it felt like it was 3 in the morning because I was so exhausted from walking everywhere! Needless to say, my shoes from that weekend have been thrown away (you're welcome, mom), and my feet still hurt two days later!
And of course, music for the week. This is by far my favorite song. I always sing and dance when it comes on. I know it's not in a foreign language, but I've been missing Home lately, and I thought it would be nice to post something in English (especially considering I just got back from Scotland - and English-speaking country).
Suggestions for visiting Glasgow: The Box pub, Merchants Chippies fish and chips, Irn Bru, traditional Scottish music, Sauchiehall Street shopping area, don't take subway, stay up as late as possible, rise as early as possible, take a taxi/ ride in a car on the opposite side of the road
Clanadonia (Scottish street performers)
Marcelo always taking pictures
Cathedral of Glasgow
The outside of the Cathedral
Fish & Chips and IRN BRU :)
Merchant Chippie's fish&chips shop
People with different colored hair...EVERYWHERE!
George Square at night
José found a bandana at the pub...themed "Pirates"
The boys enjoying their beers and free wifi!
Walking slowly on the last day to the University
For mom, since she likes pictures of me :)
A UNICORN - University of Glasgow. I'm transferring schools.
University of Glasgow
Waiting in the airport for the late plane
DOUBLE DECKER BUS!!!!!!!!
Brasileiros Fodas!!
The group of us all together in George Square
Gallery of Modern Art...where's the orange road cone?
The girls makings the Nutella cake with coconut on top
This week has been long and hectic, so I'm sorry for the delay in posting my blog. I will make this one super packed with pictures and exciting things! Last week was Marcelo's birthday (another one of my Brazilian friends), and we celebrated with a Nutella cake that Priscila and Bea made. We invited the other Brazilian boys and made a party of it! OH! And we made brigadeiro again. It's a Brazilian chocolate-type thing that takes a really long time to make. After you heat it up on the stove, you have to roll the chocolate into balls and then roll the balls in sprinkles. BEST FOOD EVER. I will teach everyone how to make it when I get back to the States. Our cake and brigadeiro was accompanied by Orangina, Coke, and random fruit juice that I needed to get rid of. For dinner we ate leftover sandwiches from an International Student Mtg that we had had earlier that day. Needless to say, I ate just cake for dinner since the sandwiches were salmon. I tried to layer them
From left to right: Henrique Marcelo, Bea
with ketchup, but that didn't work out so well. The sandwiches French people eat are disgusting. Salmon, some sort of weird goopy sauce, and cheese. No ketchup, no normal mustard (just Dijon) and no mayo. I am definitely not cut out to live in France for an extended period of time. I love my Hidden Valley and Jiffy peanut butter. They do have barbecue sauce here though miraculously. Out of all the places to find barbecue sauce. It also takes literally two weeks to find the bacon. Come to find out, it is in a completely separate aisle from any other meats. I guess bacon isn't considered a meat here?
Our finished cake and brigadeiro
José, Pri, Bea, Wendell
So that's that for the birthday celebration. Not much happened this week other than the fact that I started classes for real. Last week was more of an insertion week. The professors taught class, but even if I missed a class or wanted to change to another course, I could always find the notes and catch up. After a long week of changing courses, going to as many courses as possible, freaking out over a hard course, and finding one course too similar to my courses in America, I finally tacked down my academic schedule for the semester. At the beginning of the week, I went in thinking I wanted to take courses that seemed familiar to me. What I quickly found was that those courses had nothing to do with what I thought they would cover, so I decided to take a different approach. Instead of trying to find courses that would match up with my Emory courses, I took the opportunity to take courses that are not and probably will not be offered at Emory during my time there. I only get to study in France once, so why waste that time learning about subject fields concurrent with what I study in America? Why not branch out and explore different areas of Law?
Dusk during my run
This week I also explored the city a bit. I wandered around some of the random bus lines that I have never been on before, and I went on a run through St Pierre (a park right down the road from my residence). The park is one of my favorite places in Amiens because it is very clean and organized. This is where the Medieval Fair was held, and it is much quieter without all the people lining the walkways and grassy areas. It is almost always rainy and cloudy in Amiens, so I only take pictures when the sun is out and it looks nice. I'm trying to create a nice picture of Amiens for all you tourists ;) That is really the only downside to the north of France. It is almost always overcast and dreary. I wouldn't mind it so much every once in a while, but I enjoy the sun too much to go without it for a whole week! The city itself really is quite nice. We've learned that Amiens Nord is the place to avoid at night. Actually, just don't ever go there. I live very close, if not actually in, Amiens Nord, so we all know to close our shutters at night and lock our doors. Never go out with less than groups of two either. But that's normal for any large city I think. It's common sense to not walk around as a young female in the middle of the night haha.
One of the nice days in Amiens
Now back to my first week of classes : The most difficult part has been actually finding the classes. The professors change rooms and times, the schedule changes, the amphi is closed. So many things can happen, and the only way you will know about it is if you read every single piece of paper on the bulletin board. Thankfully I took a picture of the bulletin board, so I was able to follow the changes a little more easily, but I eventually got it all figured out. My LAST resort is having to ask the secretary, which I've done three times the past week. She is very nice, but it is difficult to follow directions sometimes. It is funny to talk to people in French when there is a big group of us because one person will hear one thing, another person will hear another part of the conversation, and we mash together everything we heard to figure out what we're supposed to do haha. The lecture halls are HUGE. They can pack maybe 250 students. Compared to Emory, that's...indescribable. It is hard to hear what the professor says at times, but they usually use a microphone. One professor this week did not use a microphone, and it was pointless for me to sit in the class because I heard nothing of what she said for the entire three hours. I heard "Suède" a lot, but that's about it. It should be an easier class for me because I have already learned many of the things, but it will be difficult to take notes if she does not use the microphone. I also think she has a Picardie accent, but I can't be certain.
Pri and I lost in the hallway
Men in Black
I also find their system of monitoring the buses interesting. Every so often there are these guys that board the buses who are cloaked in black suits (hence MIB), and they ask to see your bus card or ticket. Not only do they take your card, but they also scan it to make sure that it is valid. And they do this for every person on the bus. The first time it happened, I was so scared! I didn't know what was going on, and I was afraid I was going to get kicked off the bus! I finally looked over to see a lady pull out her card and have the man scan it, so I just followed suit. This has happened two times in the past week to me. They always seem to board the buses during the busiest times of the day (probably to catch the most people). I have never seen them kick anyone off, but I'm sure that's what would happen if someone didn't have their card or a ticket.
We still eat dinner together every night as a little family
One of my lecture halls
Two final things for my blog...AMERICAN SHUTDOWN. I saw this and thought it was funny. I needed to share it with the rest of the world. I hope everyone is doing okay and coping with their personal situations and how it affects you. I want everyone to know that the world is literally staring at America right now. I think the rest of France knew that my government had shut down before I even knew. It's become a big joke among the international students, one that I have to laugh at. It's interesting to see how involved these other countries are with American politics, and how much they look to the United States for entertainment.
And also, a good Brazilian song for you all to dance to. I can sing the chorus as of now :) My Portuguese lessons are going quite well, and my Brazilian friends are quick to correct me on my Portuguese from Portugal (since it is a bit different from that of Brasil). Hopefully this video works. If not, the song is called Vamo Apostar (Let's make a bet). I listen to it everyday on my way to school, so you can just imagine me as a true Frenchy with my headphones in, swaying back and forth on the bus...listening to Portuguese music hahahaha.
Well, it always rains here I've learned, and I've resorted to just carrying my umbrella around everywhere even if it doesn't look like it will rain. I went to do my laundry on Monday with sunny skies and ended up running back from the bus stop after a long downpour commenced! I'm actually staring out the window at the rain at the moment. I also have the same face when the internet is slow...as it always is. I made my first trip to the laundry mat only to discover that the internet works perfectly there! I decided to download all the movies I could get my hands on, upload some pictures, and do anything else on the internet that involves a lot of usage such as updating my phone! I will probably start doing my blog on laundry days as well because I am having an incredible amount of trouble uploading the pictures that I want to show everyone!
My face when it rains EVERY SINGLE DAY
I miss Ginger this week for some reason. I have the unbearable urge to pet every dog that I see here in France, but I honestly don't know how to ask in French to pet someone's dog! It's also interesting to see how many people just let their dogs walk without leashes. People are much more tolerant of dogs here, and they are even allowed in most grocery stores, bars, and shops as long as the dog is on a leash. All the dogs seem very friendly, and as soon as I build up the courage to ask to pet one, I will let you know if my suspicions are true ;) I thought about finding a stray cat on the side of the road and keeping it for company, but I figured mom wouldn't like me bringing home a random French cat!
My address in case anyone wants to send me goodies :)
The laundry experience was fun. I'm learning how to condense every article of clothing I have into one teeny little washer. The dryers are HUGE, so that's not a problem; I just wish the washers were bigger and cheaper. One more thing I'll be grateful to have once I get back to Emory...free washing machines and dryers! I do love the Wifi though. It makes me anticipate laundry day, and it motivates me to do my bed sheets so that I have to stay at the laundry mat even longer ;) I downloaded Inglourious Basterds, Entre les Murs, and Amèlie. Amelie was such a fantastic movie! Everyone needs to watch it! I also am starting to figure out which washers work and which ones don't.
Pri and Henry being funny while we dry clothes.
We went to the Cathedral this weekend as well
because this weekend was the Journée de Patrimoine—we were able to climb to the
highest part of the Cathedral, which took FOREVER! If you’ve ever been to the
Notre Dame of Paris, this Cathedral is even bigger! And the staircases felt
even smaller (maybe because I’ve gotten fatter in the past two years). I had
just played soccer that morning for a solid two hours, so I was already worn
out before even climbing all those stairs! The view was well worth the trip up
the tour. I am a bit more directionally oriented now that I know the layout of
the city. If I ever get lost, I just know to look for the Cathedral, or the
really big colored tour (I don’t know what it’s use it), and I can always find
my way back to Castillon from those two locations.
Glad to be finally walking DOWN the stairs instead of going up!
The view from the middle area of the cathedral. It was hard to get a good picture from the very top.
Our group before ascending the cathedral
My schedule this week has been a little hectic with trying to
figure out which courses to take, which courses are too difficult, which
professors just stand in front of the class and read off the paper, and which
ones will interact with the class and make it interesting. I will be glad to
get back to the States so that I don’t have to deal with three hour-long
classes! I only have one class each day, and I don’t even a class on Mondays,
but I would rather have class every single day than have to sit through three
hours of French and try to process everything they say. Most of my courses are
from the third year Political Sciences courses. I was planning on taking
certain courses at the beginning of the semester, but after week one, my entire
schedule has changed!
Third year political science courses to choose from
I was so incredibly excited to go to class this Tuesday. I
was to have Portuguese on Campus, which is a good 15-minute bus ride from my
residence. It’s a pain in the butt to have to take the bus that far because you
never know if the buses will arrive on time or not, and most times, I don’t
even know when the bus will arrive because each bus schedule is so different.
(This is one thing I appreciate about Paris—there will ALWAYS be a metro within
5 minutes of you needing it, and they are NEVER late!) Anyways, I spent an hour
trying to find my very first class of the semester. I went to the languages
building (reasonable since I was looking for Portuguese) only to find out that
it was in a different building completely! I went to the other building to look
for the Room A-4, but ended up walking into the wrong class. I then resorted to
making a trip to Melanie’s office (the international director) in order to
demand where I was supposed to go. She informed me that it wasn’t A004 which is
what I had found, but rather A MOINS 4…the room was in the basement, but any normal
American would assume that the (-) was a dash and not a minus sign! Anyway, I
arrived at the room to find this sign on the door, which reads in English… “The
course of Madame Forte will start next week.”
The class schedule for languages
Stupid sign >:(
RAWRRRRRRRR. Why couldn’t someone have sent me an email?!?!
At least the bus was free and I didn’t have to worry about paying for another
ticket! I made another trip into campus that evening for the class “Body
Combat,” which is like an aerobics class with different moves. Needless to say,
I never got to do the class because the professor was so incredibly late on
getting everyone signed up. That made two trips in one day all the way to
campus to do NOTHING. I went to bed that night hoping that my next day of
classes would be better.
My first class went well…Politically Sociology. I think I
will drop it. Haha The professor was nice. She spoke fairly well, and it was
easy for me to understand her, but she read off a sheet of paper the entire
three hours. It is just an odd way to learn, and I don’t enjoy sitting in a three-hour
class packed with all the information I’ll need for the next week. It’s hard to
process that much information, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. The class also
wasn’t what I had expected it to be. I expected a more general introduction to
political sociology, but it was focused on the police force and the prisons.
There was no indication of this on the class schedule, so I never would have
gone if I had known this!
My time here has been spent well though! We cook meals for every
lunch and dinner—I’ve been eating a lot of spaghetti and rice. We have been
making a lot of new friends from all different cultures, but us Americans (as
in North and South Americans) have learned to band together most nights for
dinner! And we are going to start playing soccer on Saturday mornings so that
we get out of bed and get some exercise! Today is our friend Marcelo’s
birthday. I will post pictures of our dinners and of this birthday party later
on in the week!
The past two weeks have been difficult. My dad was here the first week to help me move in, pay for housing, get me accustomed to living here. But that first night I was by myself was rough. I hadn't had internet service that whole day in my apartment which made it extremely difficult for me to imagine living here for four months without any form of communication with my family. Needless to say, I got it all worked out, and I've met some fabulous Brazilian friends who I call family now.
These girls (Bea on the left, Priscila in the middle) have become my very closest friends here. I'm so glad that I met them, or else I would have been completely lost! We also have a few crazy boys that follow us around (Bea's boyfriend, Henrique, and two Arabic boys, Menad and Marouen). The boys always make conversation lively with talk of sports and such.
It has been so interesting to see how our different cultures can all merge into one as we attempt to understand each other through the use of French, English, Portuguese AND Arabic! Combine the four languages, and we all have a fantastic time together! No, I may not be practicing the fast French all the time that the natives speak, but it's definitely a nice slow integration into the system before classes start.
I attended an orientation course on Monday, September 9, and the professor spoke so fast that I could pick up maybe 3/4 of what he was saying. I'm sure it will get better as the semester goes on, but it scared me for a bit.
My humble abode. The orange makes it extremely difficult to find when I'm lost ;) I live in Residential Housing and it's name is Castillon. It's quite quaint, but I've grown to love it and all the people inside. My room is just as small as I expected it to be, and despite my worst fears of the bed not being squishy enough, it's actually one of the best beds I've ever slept on; and even more, the shutters close over the windows to the point where NO light comes in whatsoever! Even in the middle of the day! It's fantastic for naps! The only downside to my apartment at the moment is that the laundry room is out of order...also we don't have wifi, just ethernet :( That means I have to walk to the laundromat when I need to do laundry, and I have to sit in a certain spot in my room to talk to my family or to make posts like this one! Other than that, I don't mind it too much here ;) The language can be a bit of a barrier at times, but once people realize that I can't understand when they talk really fast, they slow down for me. This region, Picardie, also has it's own dialect which is very different than that of Paris, so I can easily understand those people who are not from here even when they talk fast, but the Picardians are of course hard to understand. I'm sure I will pick it up in due time.
And finally, a picture of the medieval festival that occurred this past weekend. Apparently it's the biggest in the world? Don't quote me on that. But it was quite interesting! I got my grandmother a little souvenir, which I'm sure she will love. It was fun to get out for the first time with friends and to be able to see a little of the city. I bought my first real crêpe since being here (delicious) and I got to spend a lot of time exercising my legs out from being so lazy the past week!
Maybe next time I post, it won't be two weeks later, because there is so much more that I want to talk about, but it's difficult to talk about everything in detail; therefore, I just talk about the most important things!
I hope everyone back home is doing well. I miss and love you ALL!! Let me know if you have any questions or if you want me to talk about anything in more detail, and I will make note of it!
