Mexico – Week 6

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Study Abroad

Week 6

After 6 weeks the program is now over. The last week was both fun and sad at the same time. It is sad to say goodbye, but lot of fun was had. Most of the group went out to a really nice salsa club. I have been taking salsa classes at school over the past 6 weeks, and I finally got the chance to try out my newly acquired skills. All in all it went pretty well and it was fun.

Lots of people are pretty anxious to get back to the states, but I honestly am not ready to go back. I suppose that’s a good thing, since I will be spending two more weeks in Mexico City and Oaxaca. Overall I had a great time in Mexico on this program. I kind of feel like I am moving all over again; this is my home I am moving away from. It doesn’t feel foreign anymore. Sure there are differences on the surface, but once you get below the surface people are pretty much the same. However, as incorporated as I may feel into this culture, I will always be regarded as an outsider because of my skin color. It is quite obvious that I’m not from Mexico, and that will always be a barrier. I guess this is perhaps what it feels like to hispanic people living in the US. Even if they were born in the US, they are often judged as Mexican.

Home from London

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Catherine Wheat

I revisited my before departure post and realized I did not see ANYTHING I planned to from that post. But that is okay with me. I saw and did a lot of awesome things and not having done everything gives me an excuse to go back.

I really miss London. Driving is weird. I loved how in London public transportation could take up anywhere. I miss the tube. One of my favorite things about London was all the wonderful plays that had. In London I saw one play a week. In London I was constantly doing things, I always had plans. I feel like I have nothing to do now that I’m home. I’m going to have to start playing tourist in Oregon I guess.

Some memories of the trip:

Me in front of Shakespeare home. Hopefully I gained some knowledge to use during my Shakespeare class this term!

Butterbeer break at the Harry Potter Studio Tour

We started at the bottom… (of Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh)

…Now we’re here! (The very top of Arthur’s seat!)

: The sphinx at the Louvre in Paris, France. One of my favorite things we managed to see there.

Château de Chantilly in France. This place was so beautiful inside and out.

Last Week in London

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Catherine Wheat

This month has gone so fast but I did so much! There is still a lot more I could do! I used my last week to catch up on things I still wanted to do in London.

I entered a lottery to win 20 pound book of Mormon tickets and I won! Luckily Molly was nice enough to let me ditch her so I got a front row seat to the play.

Waited in the long Saturday lines to check out the natural history museum. It was well worth it!

Got my last crepe of the month from the best crepe stand in the world. I hope they will not have to close because I plan to come back to Hampstead!

The trip to the airport was a sad one. I was not ready to leave. Seeing the TARDIS at Heathrow airport was the one upside.

London was everything I thought it was going to be and more. Going home will not be easy but I will be back to visit and revist places like Scotland and Paris for longer periods of time. This trip a once in a lifetime experience and I am so happy I got the chance to take it. I met amazing people and lived in an amazing city. I will not soon forget it! Love you London!!

Kacy tries a Macaroon

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Kacy Helwig

This morning I woke up at 7:30 and said no shower I am too tired and slept in until 8. I wanted to sleep in even more. My stomach was not happy this morning so I was glad to have the tums mom sent. I had fruit and skipped my roll because I just wasn’t feeling like food was the answer. I got dressed and pretended to sleep for another ten minutes. Then said I could skip this class I haven’t ever skipped it and I get two free… I could just sleep all day until my night class… But then I decided to get my butt out of bed and go. Mostly just because I knew that I would be getting my test back and I wanted to see what I got on the one I did well on.

I went and it was kind of rainy so I wore my boots. I also brought my computer along to do some homework between classes. My back hurt though from carrying it to school. I should use my backpack when I bring my laptop… That would be smart of me… oops. Oh well. I got there and pretty soon Mary came in and sat by me and complained that her shoulder hurt from bringing her laptop today and I laughed and told her I was just thinking the same thing. We talked with another girl Cooper who was there about what she had heard about our professor and how hard he was of a grader. She had heard this class was one of the hardest the university has. That scared us.

Class started and we got our tests back. I got an A! Win! I was happy. We started talking about the Sacrophages or Sarcophagus in English of Arles. They are kind of cool and it is interesting to see the significance and influence of the different cultures. We moved our second exam to a week later because he originally had it planned on Armistice Day which we don’t have school. So that was cool. After class I walked with Mary to the other building. She went to check her mail and I went down in the cave to edit my paper and hang out. I ran into Cassandra and apologized for sort of ditching her yesterday because we were making tentative day plans but then I got told I was going to lunch and then the walk so that changed quickly but luckily I was able to tell her things had changed. She is starting to try and go jogging everyday to get ready for the Color Run in her state. That’s the 5k run where each K you get pelted with a different color of dust which is maybe paint or chalk or something? The pictures from it look cool but I would fall over and pass out in a white shirt with no colors on it. So I say “go Cassandra” when she tells me she ran for support because running is really not high on the things that “do not cause me pain/ can do them” list.

We talked for a while before she headed off to go fix her paper and then go to class. I stayed and bought a 50 cent hot chocolate from the sketchy espresso machine that was probably some of the best hot chocolate ever. I’m not sure if because it is French or because It was cold and rainy out and I haven’t had hot chocolate since I have been here or what. But it was delicious. I also learned the vending machine only takes 20 cent pieces without eating them. So that is good to know after already losing a few bucks to it. I sat down there a while until Julia came down and sat and sketched for a while. Will, Risa, and Christelle were there too and were being really funny so I joined in on their conversations for a while. Then I went to get lunch at the Chinese place. I got a different chicken this time and liked it better but they use too much sauce or should have asked if I could get plain rice because that’s all I really wanted. It is hard to get plain things here I have observed, which is unfortunate because I like bland and plain things. I know I’m in France and complaining the food isn’t boring enough. First world French Problems. It is a good deal though for 5.50 with a drink. Pretty good.

I went back and ate my two mandarins that I had brought from home. They were delicious and I am glad they are coming into season here. They actually look like little oranges too not like the smooshed down wrinkly ones at home but like real little oranges that are mandarins. They were good. After that I edited my paper and talked to Morgan about it and we both agreed it was harder than writing an analysis because we both hate writing imaginative and creative things. I do on occasion enjoy it but not when I am forced to. I am not really sure mine is following the format he wants because he didn’t give us a clear format so I hope it is fine. I saved it and then went to town to try and send a package. Unfortunately for me though the post office by the school was out of world envelopes so I couldn’t send it. So I went back to school to print my paper. I also printed my History documents for the rest of the lectures because I have learned I will not read them electronically. I have to have the paper in order to take them seriously because I like to highlight as I read. It was a lot of pages but I double sided and it wasn’t really THAT many but probably 45 pages, for the rest of the semester. I see why he wanted us to use it electronically though. When I went to print the printer started spitting out like 20 copies of some girls two page paper over and over again. Finally I figured out how to get it to stop. But that was more wasted paper than anything else.

I went back to the cave to start doing some reading for that class when Christelle asked if I had read my email. Apparently we didn’t have class tonight! Our professor was sick so that means we were free! That was pretty exciting! I was like are you serious? YES! Not that I don’t like that class but given the option to go or have the night free I wonder which I liked the idea of more! I was excited I went to Paul’s (Patisserie) and bought a Macaroon Speculoos flavored. I had never had one before and figured now was a good time to try. TO give my honest opinion, I was unimpressed. For how much people here talk them up I was expecting something a lot more amazing. I mean it was good but the whole time I was thinking, “You know this tastes like speculoos but not as good, I could have bought three packs of speculoos for the price of this and been much happier.” Also it made me really thirsty and I had no water. So then I went home.

When I got home I skyped Dad and saw some of mom before she went to work. Then Madame came home and was like oh are you finished for today, oh no you have class tonight and I was like actually it’s cancelled and she was happy for me. My parents said Bonjour to her, and then they left and Madame left and I watched some Project Runway before heading out to go try a different post office.

The post office I went to is the main post office in town and is next to the tourism building so they are fully equipped with envelopes and boxes and the like. The people there were really nice even though I had to ask three people for help they all seemed to be happy to help me which was a lot nicer than when I went to the other post office. Maybe I will just go there all the time! Also there was.. a change machine! TA DAH!!! WOW! That is a GOOD thing to know about here, let me tell you. They really hate when you don’t give exact change or give them more than a euro over the cost of something. I sent my package after only a bit of confusion remedied by the friendly staff and then went on my merry way. I passed by a store that I had seen before that had Christmas decorations so I went inside to poke. It was a really pretty store. It was like a home goods store with dishes and linens and cool decorations and stuff. It is a good thing I don’t live here or I would have bought so much stuff! It was just pretty and fun to walk around in. they had lots of colored glassware which I have always wanted. I think they are so cool, and I love color.

After walking around that store for a while I went to Monoprix to look for some carrots and some speculoos cookies. I walked around there for a while and found tortillas which are good to know where they are because mom is sending taco seasoning in a package that is coming. I didn’t buy them but I remembered that they were there. I paid and left and came back home to work on homework. Madame came up and started dinner which was TWO croquet monsiuers (grille dcheese with ham) and salad. Madame only had one croquet monsieur and a tomato and salade. But oh man it was too much food. I felt bad not eating it but I forced myself. I have eaten two before when I didn’t snack in the day but because I had it was like man I want to stop. I think I slowed down so much in eating it Madame knows I can’t eat two full ones. But if not, then next time we have them I will tell her I only want one.

After that I tried to Skype Thad but my internet doesn’t work in my room for some reason so after trying for fifteen minutes I gave up. I went to the living room and Madame was like you look mad did it not work? And I said no that the internet is the opposite of last time where it works in the living room but not in my room as opposed to last time where it only worked in my room and not in the living room. But it was all good. She told me I could call in the living room and I said no I don’t want to be annoying your show and she was like what show I don’t care about this it’s just on I am reading the paper. So I said sure. She told me she doesn’t understand English at all so it wasn’t a big deal to her. I said okay and called Thad. We couldn’t get the video to work tonight but it was good to talk to him anyways.

After that I started writing my blog post and Madame fell asleep watching Castle. It was good and when she woke up we had dessert of apple sauce for me and yogurt for her and Beebow. It was the perfect dessert after a big meal like that. It is almost impossible to get away without a dessert of some kind so it is good that fruits and stuff are considered dessert. We ate some speculoos too.

Tomorrow my lit class starts on the movie for the term which is called “Wings of Desire”. It should be good. It’s a 1987 Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress.

Castles and Stairs

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Kacy Helwig

Today was way better than yesterday but it would be pretty hard not to be. I woke up at ten to my alarm after my usual 8 o clock window fixing. Then I went and took a shower and used my new shampoo/conditioner that I bought at Carrefour. It smells much more like me so I like it. I wish I had different body soap because it smells weird. It was good. I have started putting on music when I get ready in the mornings and have the house to myself. It is nice. Then I got dressed and went to do my hair. My bangs have gotten long so I decided to cut them. I think I did a pretty good job. They don’t look freshly cut which was the goal but they are definitely shorter which is good. I should have cut them just a tad more but they suffice for now. You may be thinking why didn’t you just go get all of your hair cut? Well because that’s 30+ € that I would rather just save and let my hair grow out so I can take it to my friend Joe and he can have a field day with it when I get home. Plus that is pretty steep for a hair cut! No wonder everyone has long hair here! 😉

After I did that I packed up my stuff and went to school. My plan was to finish the last 30 pages of my Game of Thrones book but then Mom was on Skype so I messaged with her instead. That was good and then pretty soon Cassandra came in and was like what did you think of the reading and I was like what? And she was like the homework for this class? And I was like oh I didn’t do that. I was so done with school by the end of class yesterday I just didn’t even care. So she filled me in on what I missed. I didn’t miss much judging from what e talked about in class but I’ll get caught up this weekend. I just needed to not do any more work yesterday after all the horribleness that happened. But class was interesting. We are talking about the German Unification now.

After class I climbed all the stairs (all but one staircase I got pictures of for you Mom, and then was sad there was no slip of paper saying I had a package. When I got back down my backpack was ringing. I was like what Is that? Turns out it was my phone and I missed a call from some number that I did not recognize. I tried calling them back but go a machine that was about 10 seconds long in French and there was no way I could understand them they were speaking so quickly. So I decided it was nothing. After that we went to the new building and sat for a while before going to our classes. Kelan noticed I cut my bangs. He won the prize and was the only one who noticed.

Literature was alright. We had read A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings : A Childrens Tale. It was a good little story but I feel like the class discussion just went WAY too philosophical that like I was wondering if the professor got our class confused with his next philosophy class in the same room. It was just like too much. I understand like analyzing but it was too much.

After that I went down to the convenience store for a juice and the cashier lady was not in a good mood. I went back and sat in the cave and finished Game of Thrones. It was very good. Except now I have to read The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky which is not going to be nearly as exciting… But I have to finish it before I can read the fourth book. It was good though I liked it a lot.

After that I met up with Patrick and Cassandra and we went to Happy Hour at Woohoo. The pigeons kept coming over because I kept looking at them and because we have peanuts on the table they thought I was going to feed them. Cassandra is araid of birds though so Patrick and I would just not tell her and then she would like turn around and it would be like RIGHT there and she would freak out. It was pretty funny J. Or at least we found it very amusing. It was chilly so after we were done, we went back to the school and I grabbed my big B.K. book and we parted ways. I came home and bought 5 days of internet because I am going crazy. Then I started reading. I am about 30 pages in. But it starts on page 16… So really I’m like 15 pages in and so far it is dreadfully boring. But it is just back story at this point so hopefully it will pick up.

I stopped when Madame came home and asked how my day was and then immediately if I went to talk to the internet people. I told her I didn’t need to because this morning the internet started working again! A little white lie but it saves me the stress and her the stress and I knew the internet was a risk when I bought it. So this way is best I think. But then we had dinner which was 2 croque-monsieurs each, (Grilled cheese with ham) to be eaten with a fork and knife, we also had salad. Toujours salade, jamais Malade, as Madame says whenever we eat salad. It was a lot of bread and afterwards I got hiccups. Madame laughed at me. It is pleasantly getting cold here which I love. Maybe tomorrow I can wear a sweatshirt! I am meeting Patrick and Cassandra to go for crepes tomorrow for lunch. Then I can check my mail again.

I have my Skype date soon with Thad which will make it just under a week since we have been able to talk. It’s at 11 my time so pretty late but Madame says she doesn’t care as long as I’m not screaming or being obnoxious. She says it’s like if I had a TV on I can make that much noise. But I am excited. It has been too long.

I got online and talked to dad about my test. He said that I need to have FUN storming the castle. 🙂

Art work featured in my class that I really liked!

Mid semester break

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Jake Hyde

Mid semester break down unda! and am having a blast!! missing home but going to the great barrier reef was a blast!! I went with my girlfriend who came down to visit with her dad and brother we went all along the east coast of australia up to brisbane (pronounced brisbin) and then flew up to cairns. We went to the outer reef to snorkel. when we got back we went to my friend Liam’s house. He is the Head RA here where I stay. While there we were in the middle of the bush. So needless to say I saw many kangaroo and lots of other wildlife. today is the Grand Final for Rugby League. This is like their Super Bowl. Also Rugby League is much different than the Rugby we play at home. Also while at Liams house we watched the Grand final for Australian football. after monday school starts back up again. So back to doing homework. Missing back home but absolutely loving it here in Oz and enjoying the kangaroo burgers, tim tams and Vegimite!!

Jake Hyde

Travelling to the Highlands

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Emily Pate

I’m having an amazing time in Scotland. The people here are very friendly, and there are so many things to do!

Only ten minutes from my apartment, there’s a shopping district which has a small street market every weekend. A few of my flatmates and I went there this past weekend and bought some sweets there.

This past weekend, most of my flatmates and I, took a bus tour up to the Highlands, which was a lot of fun. We had to be at the Royal Mile by 7:45 in order to catch our bus. The Royal Mile is the road that starts at Edinburgh Castle and ends at Holyrood Palace, which is the official residency of the queen when she’s in Scotland. It’s only about a twenty minute walk from my flat to get there, which means that I have a view of the castle when walking home from class. It’s still amazing to me to see such amazing historical monuments just going about everyday business. Here’s a picture looking down the Royal Mile from the top, near where the castle is.

Unfortunately, our group was separated between two buses, with everyone on one bus except one of my flatmates and I. It turns out, however, that we got the more entertaining bus driver. He was very funny and had a strong Scottish accent. He kept saying “Fantastic!” in a very enthusiastic manner. It was quite foggy out, which David the bus driver was worried about, but the fog burned off pretty quickly after we were on out way. At our first stop, we got to see some Highland cattle, which are the cutest cows of all time.

We stopped at a few places after that to take pictures of amazing views, especially of the Munros, which are mountains that are over 3,000 feet tall. There are 280 of them in Scotland, and some people make it their life’s goal to climb to the top of all of them.

Here’s a picture of everyone who went, that we had another person on the tour take for us:

That’s Liz, Rachel, Megan, Kayla, and then me.

After that we went to the Three Sisters, which is the place they filmed parts of Skyfall, Braveheart, and the Harry Potter films. This is the ridge Mel Gibson as William Wallace runs along after the Battle of Falkirk in Braveheart:

After that we went to Loch Ness and took a boat cruise. The weather was perfect for it, which was great after how foggy it had been in the morning.

Liz and Kayla actually swam in the Loch, though very briefly, as it was quite cold.

After that, we drove through Inverness. Our bus driver told us that “inver” simply means “mouth of”, so Inverness means “mouth of the river Ness”, which I found interesting. After that, we drove back to Edinburgh.

Classes have been going very well, and I’m finding the material very engaging, though I have a lot of reading to do for each of my modules. The professors here expect their students to call them by their first names, which is a strange transition for me.

Until next time,

Emily

La Revolution Francaise

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Kacy Helwig

This morning I woke up around ten and went and took a shower. I had breakfast and made myself a PB&J to take with me to school. I got there early and read a little of my Game of Thrones book. After a while I went outside to meet my class. Today we went on a little trip to the monument of Joseph Sec. It is one of only 5 monuments from the French revolution that still exists. The other three are in Paris and there is another one in Nantes. The last one is here in Aix! It is a small little monument with a sort of garden like thing on the inside.

Pretty much during the revolution everyone wanted to trash everything that had to do with French history before the revolution. Some people like Joseph Sec didn’t really like that idea. He made this monument and made it a sort of mausoleum but without his body so that people wouldn’t mess with it. It is super cool and has sculptures and such. On the outside it has three plaques. The middle one just kind of says what it is. The one on the left says something like : Leaving cruel slavery, I have no other master but myself, But my liberty I have no other use of but to obey the law. The one on the right says something along the lines of: I will prefer to die for these laws more than to abolish them. Basically at this time because every other country was attacking France this was France saying hey we are free from the king now but we are going to follow the laws we made, and we’d rather die fighting you than to break them and be a part of your country. Basically, France has it’s own laws and they will fight to keep them.

The monument itself was pretty cool. We stood outside talking about the different parts. In the middle there is a statue of a man with horns. My professor asked us who we thought it was and because of the horns we assumed the devil. But we learned that it was Moses and that he has horns because somewhere in translation someone mis-translated halo to be horns. Quite a bad mix up to be honest! But that’s why in a lot of famous paintings and such of Moses he has horns. On each side of him were statues of women but I don’t really know their significance or if they had one. On the very top of the monument was lady Justice with a scale. On the other side of the main wall of the monument is Jesus with a lamb. The significance of the statues is that the front and back are the old and new Testaments of the Bible and Lady Justice being on top is the French saying that Justice will win over the king who was supposedly chosen by God himself and ruled by divine right. It was pretty cool to see the monument even from just the outside.

We went inside and it was pretty much just a little garden with some more statues. We learned that the statues there were fake and that the real ones are in the museum in town. This is the museum I have already been to but I think that I need to go back later because there is so much I have heard about that I didn’t see. I think because there is a temporary exhibition there now so once that is over they will put back their regular stuff.

Inside we learned that the statues were of Noah, David with Goliaths head, Judith nailing the guy in the head, Solomon, a Prophetess, and Aaron Mose’s brother. They were all really cool looking even if they were replicas. Right after the French revolution people started to realize that they needed to have their cultural heritage guarded so the people stopped wrecking everything.

Another interesting story where the French were trashing stuff was when King Henry the 4^th was removed from his tomb. Pretty much the revolutionaries dumped the body in the sewers but some crazy guy like kept the head and now it has resurfaced and it’s a big deal. There are DNA tests going on and such but I wonder how they can do that if the rest of the body is gone. I guess probably by using his lineage and finding people that were descendents from him? Though how they would really know 100% I question because his descendents would only have half his DNA each time, and after 10 generations that wouldn’t be a lot left… But I guess it must work somehow.

I also learned that the French wanted to create their own calendar and forget the Christian calendar. The wanted it to be separate so on the middle plaque it says “the fourth year of liberty 1792” So they were trying to use the new calendar and the Christian calendar. They soon learned that the new calendar wasn’t going to work.

The whole little trip was really cool and I got to learn a lot of things about the French revolution that I wouldn’t have learned from reading a book. I want to find out who the other statues are that were in the garden and also when the other statues were moved. The ones on the top and front of the monument are the real ones from that time which makes me wonder why they didn’t move those ones as well. Perhaps because it would be too much work? I don’t know.

My literature class was a bit dull today. Instead of having a big discussion we had like little talks on different parts of the text. I enjoy the longer discussions much better though. But it wasn’t bad. We are almost done with Paradise Lost.

After class I went to the FNAC (aka best buy +books and other things) store to find a birthday card for my mom. I wandered around for a while and bought a lemon and sugar crepe. It was surprisingly delicious! I was pleasantly surprised. After that I went back to the school to read for a while before meeting Cassandra for Happy Hour. Kelan, Julia, and Patrick ended up joining us as well because Kelan saw me outside the school so I invited him, who saw Julia so he invited her and Cassandra had class with Patrick so she invited him and it was fun! We went and sat and talked about lots of different things. Julia left to go skype her parents and the four of use kept sitting and talking for another hour. After that Kelan, Patrick, and I went back to the monument so we could show Kelan but it was closed by then. It was really cool though.

I came back home and wrote moms card and then I decided to try and write to my French professors in French. And I was doing fine until I wanted to know how many fountains there are in Aix exactly. Madame came home and we tried to find the answer on the internet. That didn’t work so we consulted her dictionaries for Aix but that didn’t say either. I learned she doesn’t have a book for Aix (Christmas Present? Oui.) so tomorrow my mission is to find that out. I probably will go to the office de toursime and see if they know and if not go to the library. I really want to know though because there are so many and I want to know the exact number because I am curious like that! Aix is called the city of a thousand fountains but I bet it has a few less. After that we had dinner and then watched Men in Black. Paul came up to say hi and I forgot to do la bise or kisses so he was like standing there and I was like what until Madame was like bisous and I was like oh! I didn’t know that was a thing that I was supposed to do! But I guess I am!

Also a fun little fact: after the Storming of the Bastille some businessmen sold stones from the building and one of them ended up here in Aix in this like random building. But the people who bought the building after the guy who bought it dies didn’t know it was historic so they had it engraved with “Toilettes” and used it as a sign for the bathrooms. Oops! But after they found out it was too late. My professor said not many Aix people know about it, but because the building is under construction or something we couldn’t go see it.

Also I can’t remember if I put this in my last post or not but I learned that the construction next has been going on for 2 years! Blech! It shows no sign of stopping either!

Why does the milk taste weird?

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Kacy Helwig

Today I woke up and read a bunch. I had some cereal and discovered that milk here has a very different taste to it. I have also noticed (today) that it isn’t in the refrigerated section of grocery stores. I did some research and figured out why this is and found this:

Most milk in France does not require refrigeration because it is sterilised and not pasteurized. Despite having been the first country to “discover” and widely use pasteurization for dairy products, they now use what is called UHT steralization, another heating process that kills bacteria.

The shelf life of sterilized milk is 6-9 months when unopened, hence it’s reason for being popular. This is why French milk tastes different. Other European countries like Spain, Portugal, and Belgium also use this method.

Apparently UHT milk has been introduced in the US, but Americans, as they are with all change, were no open to trying unrefrigerated milk that tastes like merde. Evidement.

Source: https://www.exasperatedexpatriate.com/2013/04/youve-always-wanted-to-know-why-isnt.html

I found that really helpful and surprising as well. I totally agree with the American view of the milk here though it is very weird and different! I think the best way to describe it is that it doesn’t taste refreshing? Once you open the milk you put it in the fridge but it still isn’t very like fresh feeling? It is hard to describe so you will just have to come here and try it 😉

I read my book for a while and got almost done with my outline for a paper due on Monday when I decided I didn’t want to have a sit at home day today when I know that Sunday the weather is going to be bad and I won’t be able to walk around much. So I texted my friend Cassandra and asked if she wanted to go on an adventure with me to find the big supermarché or big grocery store that is outside of town. She agreed and we made plans to meet.

The best form of transportation here is public because to get a license you have to pass a test and go to driving school. It is also very expensive to get a license (over 1,000 Euros, that’s over $1,350!) and if you don’t pass the tests you have to retake them and pay the money to try all over again! Not to mention that but cars are also pretty expensive here and there isn’t a lot of space to park them. So because of this if you want to go somewhere over a mile away you need to take public transportation to get there. We ended up needing to take the bus. I had a bit of trouble figuring out which line we needed to take to get us there and the bus routes aren’t very clear. I finally found a website that you could tell it where you wanted to go and it would tell you the best route to take. What a life saver! I met Cassandra and we headed out. I had looked at how many stops the bus would make before we needed to get off so that we would be sure not to miss it but the bus stopped a lot more often than the route made it seem. I was not recognizing the bus stop names and was getting worried but then we soon passed the grocery store and stopped close by. We hopped off and began our adventure.

The store is called Carrefour and the best way that I could describe it is that it is like a Safeway and a Walmart and Half of a Fred Meyers. It is BIG. I guess it could be compared to Costco but things aren’t in bulk they is just a lot of stuff!

We went in and I had some Mac Do. I wanted a taste of home and to be able to say that I had. It was difficult to order because they don’t really do things in the same way. They do single things and not really meals. I learned later that they have machines there that you can order from and put them in different languages. This makes a lot of sense because I bet that they have the language barrier problem a lot here! It tasted pretty different as everything here does even if you think it will taste familiar. I mostly just needed to eat something or else I was going to start getting grumpy.

We started walking around looking at things. There were a lot of interesting things and a lot of things that I looked at and said “Hey so and so would like this” but then I said how in the world would I get this back to them… I also found suit cases for not a lot of Euros, only like fifty so that is a good thing to remember. I took a lot of pictures of the store. There were a lot of aisles that were dedicated to just one thing. There were three wine aisles, a cheese aisle, a yogurt aisle, a French fry aisle, and an ice cream isle. I think that they have so many choices for one thing because those are REALLY popular food staples here, everyone eats cheese and drinks wine and has desserts. I think that it was a really cool experience to go to a French grocery store. I could easily have spent hours wandering and looking at all of the things that they had. Fortunately for Cassandra, I only took three and a half.

When I got home Madame made dinner and we had a very delicious Chicken and Rice with Zuccinni. The chicken she had soaked in honey, lemon, and thyme. It was sooooo good. I will HAVE to get the recipe. After that I Skyped or tried really with my crummy internet to Skype Thad before he had to go to Lunch.

After that Madame and I started watching Master Chef which is a really cool cooking show. There was a trivia question tonight which was how many desserts are traditionally at the table for Christmas in the South of France. Madame was quick to say thirteen. After one of the people on the show said three and was kicked off, I asked her what they were. She listed off a few nuts, figs, nougat, Yule Log, fruit, etc. and she got to about 7 before she got stuck and couldn’t think of any others. So we decided to Google it and in doing so found out why!

The thirteen desserts of Christmas, or Les Treize Desserts de Noël, are enjoyed after Gros Souper in Provence. The thirteen desserts are in reference to Jesus and his twelve apostles at the Last Supper. As tradition goes, there must be at least thirteen sweet available, they are all served at once, and each guest must have at least a small bit of each dessert.

Fougasse or pompe à l’Huile, an olive oil flatbread, is eaten with grape jam made during the last harvest season. The tradition is to break the bread into individual servings with the fingers, rather than cut the bread with a knife. Legend goes that this protects one’s wealth from bankruptcy in the coming year.

The “four beggars” portion of lez treize stands for four monastic communities: Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, and Franciscans. Walnuts stand for the Augustinians, almonds for the Carmelites, raisins for the Dominicans, and figs for the Franciscans. A platter of fresh fruit usually counts as one dessert, and is always served after Gros Souper. It can be a selection of oranges, apples, pears, and grapes. Any combination of seasonal fruit is welcome, and fresh berries rarely make the list, although they would be considered acceptable, as well.

Source: https://frenchfood.about.com/od/festivalsandholidays/tp/13-Desserts-Of-Christmas.htm

I found that really interesting and I wish that I was going to be here for Christmas to experience that. But also at the same time I am very happy that I will be home for Christmas with my family.

Pre-Departure: Journey has Begun!

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Finally, the day of my study abroad is here. Today, I am here at the PDX airport waiting to fly out on my journey. I have been in touch with my host family, and they are just as excited as I am to meet. Knowing that I have someone “on the other side” waiting for me makes me feel much more confident. I already know I will love my host mom, and her 2 kids, Nadya and Arian. She has been so nice to help me get prepared. Even though it has all been through e-mail, she does an amazing job by writing in full to give me as much information as I need.

On the other hand, I have been awake sine 10am (Monday), it is now 5:44am (Tuesday). No sleep is what happens when I am just so excited and nervous for this trip! My family was so nervous for me, but being proud of what I am about to accomplish helped them bring me motivation and to not be so nervous. I received much support from my friends and family, the best part was to hear them say that they will see me again soon! Because before I know it I will be back! I am so excited, but I can sense the homesickness kicking in. Maybe it’s the loneliness at the airport, or the goodbyes I had to say to my closest friends, I just hope all goes well so that I can return with many stories. At moments I felt like it was an unrealistic dream, but now, being here, in the waiting are of my terminal, it is real!

I imagine Oviedo, Spain to be as beautiful as everyone imagines. The culture, the beaches, the popular Sangria everyone talks about! But soon I will be looking through my own eyes, and I will share the beauty Spain truly has with all of you!

WOU Students Abroad

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