The lovely month of October brings a dollup of homesickness

Well well well, look who it is. Yep, I have been negligent. But you can't blame me, because in the past three weeks, I have moved apartments, had my "medical visit" confirming that I can stay in France for a year, and went on a trip to the lovely region of Normandy.

One of the keys to surviving in this place is certainly getting out of the city once in awhile. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining about PARIS, but I am finding that I miss nature!

First off, you are probably wondering, "MOVE?! Why would you move?! I thought you really liked your host family." And my response to you would be, "Yep I still really like my host family." However, there were some extenuating circumstances that led me to feel less comfortable in the home, and fortunately for me another student in the program decided to leave her apartment for students housing. Fine by me, because I love the apartment I'm now in! Very different from the 3eme arrondisment, the 14eme is a little bit more families and trees and a little less touristy. And although I miss my runs along the canal, I have a gigantic park just next door that allows me to take a breather from the city air. (I will load pictures very soon, but for now my computer is acting a bit funny)

Ensuite, what the heck is a medical visit?!!

Well, do not worry, I am not sick! (I get that question a lot). Essentially the visit is to confirm that I do not have tuberculous. You may think that such a disease doesn't exist any more and therefore such a medical visit seems pointless, but you would be wrong...and right. In some ways the medical visit IS pointless. I have been in France over a month and a half, if I were to have tuberculous, I would have already given it to other people. Unlike last year, I left the medical office called, OFII (office of integration and immigration) WITH my carte sejour (the official stamp that says I can stay). Sadly I cannot really describe the visit to you all, it's just something you will have to experience yourself. Arriving at the cusp of dawn, waiting among a bunch of students and immigrants that hardly speak a word of French, and trying to be patient with all the nurses and doctors who seem have none. And a young woman yelling at everyone to take a seat when there are in fact no seats left. It's a priceless moment.

Every now and then you get run into someone who is having a good day, but as Evette (another gal in the program) says, "I feel bad for them! Look how unhappy they are and it's only 9am, that still leaves a good 12 hours in the day!"

THREE: Trip to Normandy

Many of you should be familiar with this region. Normandy is where D-day took place, you know Omaha beach and all that. (Normandy has a ton of other things too, but this is what it is known for). So, us middlebury kids spent to days in the region. We went to the American cemetery, the tapestry of Bayeux, stayed the night in a small hotel not far from Mont-Saint-Michel (a church built on a mountain), then in the morning visited the famous Mont-Saint-Michel, and a Chateau---the name of which escapes me.

Although rainy and kind of gray, we were not disheartened, in fact we felt that the rain was only appropriate for the kind of trip it was. Seeing the beaches and the American cemetary, lined with all those white grave markers is humbling. Even on my most difficult days in Paris, things could always be worse.

Next, to make things a bit more abeat, we saw the tapestry of Bayeux, which is one of the longest and oldest surviving tapestries. It tells the story of William the Conqueror and the Vikings. The museum is really well done, because they give you a little head set that explains the story as you look at the tapestry. Almost like a comic book.

That evening, we stayed in a very nice little hotel, and had the opportunity to explore a fair à la française. Yep, bumper cars and cotton candy.

The next day we got a up bright and early to visit Mont-Saint-Michel which is a church ontop of a moutain. It was first built in the 600s and over time has changed uses. For awhile it was a prision. Now it is a monastery and allures thousands of tourists. The church is also under attack...by sand! For most of the church's history the tide from the ocean would come in every night (like galloping horses as they say in French) and surround the mountain leaving an even flow of sand all the way around. Today, there is a road that leads all the way up to the mountain, so that tour buses and such can have easy access. WELL the consequences of human intervention on nature is that now the sand builds up because it has no where to go. A huge project is under way to build a suspension pedestrian bridge where the road currently sits. Thus reopening the flow of water and sand. I highly recommend visiting it, this was my second trip and I would go back.

To finish off the day we went to a little chateau on the way home. Unfortunately I didn't have time to explore the gardens because the others didn't want to stay (it was raining afterall), but the chateau itself was preserved better than most because it remained private until about 1950, when the only children of the family were women, they lost ownership of the chateau. (YES in 1950! heritage of such things was still for men only). But that meant that a lot of the furniture and decor is original.

Well that about does me in for this week. (Writing in English is a bit tiresome these days!) BUt I hope that you are all doing well, and if ever you want to drop me an email please do not hesitate! (Or if you have questions about anything!0

Miss you all!
-Rebekah

2 weeks of class down, only...Okay, it's better if I don't count down.

Salutations à tous et toutes,

I hope I am finding you all well on this fine September Sunday. I must admit that while France is wonderful, I do miss autumns à la Bowling Green/Midwest. Apple festivals, tress changing color...PUMPKINS/Halloween! I realized that this is the second fall I have spent in France, and while they are nice here, it is just not the same.

As for the events of the week: You know for sure you are in France when...
1. You have to have 3 different library cards
2. When the quartiers/arrondisments are in the shape of a shell
3. When you visit a Chateau at night


1. Okay, so first off this week, I began my little journey to get a library card. In Paris there are at least three different kinds of libraries, municipal, university, and national. For each one, a different library card is necessary, and in some cases an interview before said library card may be obtained. Yep, an interview. Much like the library of congress, the National library (or BnF) requires a small tête à tête before you can officially do research in the facility. It makes sense, because it is so busy, they don't want just any-old person walking through. (Dick I'm not sure you would ever make it through the door). Oh yeah, AND once you have the ability to go TO the library, you have to set up an appointment time each week. Almost like office hours. You can only have three books at a time, but you can request them ahead of time, so you arrive at your appointment time, at "your" desk and your books will be there waiting for you.

For the municipal libraries, once you have a card it works with all other libraries, but it's not like in BG where you can ask for a book from another library and have it delivered at your own, you have TO that library and get it yourself. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

ANd finally, the university libraries. Fortunately, I will have a student card that will allow me access to these libraries. That makes thinks a bit easier.

Of course, it's important to note that checking out books is normally prohibited in the large/more popular libraries, so better be sure to note which book you found where. AND plan your time well, cause they are not going to be open until midnight.

2. So this week the other students and I had the opportunity to visit the 10eme arrondisment. Before I continue, what the heck is an arrondissement? It is kind of like a county but smaller in size, and it's also like a neighborhood. Paris is made up of about 20, and unlike most American cities, they move in the shape of a shell. This is because the city began during the period of ancient Rome, and slowly expanded.

I happen to live in the 3eme arrondissement, which is pretty centrally located and also right next to the 10eme, which is where I run. In the link below you will notice the 3eme, is pretty small but to the north of La Seine and just before some canals. That's where I run!

http://www.plandeparis.info/plans-de-paris/arrondissements-paris.jpg (This is a pretty good image of the Paris and you can see the number of arrondissements)



3. And Finally: Chateau de Vaux le Vincomte

I had the pleasure and opportunity to accompany the BG kids to the Chateau de Vaux le Vincomte just yesterday evening. As most of you know, I am an alum of BG, and at the program always begins in Paris. I am still in contact with the program director Kevin Kane, and he invited me to accompany then the Castel. (Which was fortunate for me because the only way to get there is by car, no public transit)

The chateau was built by the guy who handled the taxes for Louis XIV, and what a splendid chateau it is. A little too splendid as they say. The week it was opened for a house warming party, was the only week that Vaux le Vincomte would get to enjoy his palace. Accused of stealing from the king, he was sentenced to a life in a dungeon, and Louis XIV would then build his now well known living quarters, Versailles. Vaux le Vincomte is a place at the heart of many a three musketeers stories including the story of the man in the iron mask.

And finally, the coolest part of the chateau is that we were there at night...this picture may speak for itself but let's just say I have never seen anything so magical.

Time to get back into French!
All my best,
-Bekah

La vie parisiane...

Before beginning this week's post, I thought I would add a few photos of my living quarters. That way everyone can see my humble abode. (Or at least the humble abode of Marie-Liesse and her boyfriend Michel)

Let's see, last weekend I went to Angers, this weekend I stayed in Paris. And what a beautiful weekend it has been. Lots of sun, and lots of spending time with friends and getting to know the city. First off, this past week was our first week of classes at the Centre Madeline which is the Middlebury part of the program. (I believe I explained that I won't be taking courses at the French school until the beginning of October) In the meantime, I am working on my thesis, and my applications for my doctorate.

So this post is going to cover my first week, the fabulous weekend of sun, and that's about it.

ANYWAY, I am taking two classes, one that is going to really help me improve my style in French and the other is a literature class, a comparison between the 17th century and the 20th century return to tragic.

As well as the regular course work, we have some cultural activities, where we get to learn about the history of Paris and work on pronunciation.

Little known fact about Paris, in the 1960s, there was a large fad for sky scrapers, (which we can see today in the area know as La Defense), and the plan for the city was to completely rebuild everything. DESTROY everything that we know of today as charming Paris and in place of all that build giant sky scrapers. Fortunately an oil crisis hit much of Europe by the end of the 60s and nothing become of such a terrible idea!

As for the weekend, two gals from the program and I decided to share a bottle of wine and chocolate on le pont des arts (which is very popular for picnics during the summer) on Friday evening and enjoyed the ambiance of La Seine (which is the river that runs through Paris).

Then this weekend was what is know as "les journées de patrémoine" Which is where EVERYTHING is open and EVERYHTING is free. So we can get into places like the Senate building or the President's residence. SO the same two gals and I decided to get up early on Saturday and get a head start. (The lines during the weekend can be fairly long so we packed picnics thinking, okay we may be waiting for about 4 hours)

So, we decided to try and see where M. Sarkozy is living, we arrive around 8:30am, and the line is already rather long. But not a big deal, we had kind of foreseen that. About 2 hours in, an "gendarme" passes by and we ask him about how long the wait will be, he says, "from here? About 6 hours."

SIX HOURS?! I thought maybe he is joking?! He has to be joking! So we decided to wait a little longer and ask someone else, just to be sure that he wasn't trying to get us out of the line.

Nope, we asked several minutes later we asked another person a similar question and got the same response. So we wavered for a few minutes and then decided that 8 hours of waiting would not be worth the 20 min of viewing. We did what any normal human would do, we found a cafe and drank coffee and chatted for about an hour. Then we decided to find something that would equally interesting with little wait.

Well it just so happens the Opera house was very much open and there was no line to get in. Not to be confused with the Opera house in La Bastille, this building was commissioned by Napoleon III, to replace the original theatre. The construction was inspired by an assassination attempt, and the new building had to be in a very open space. Incidentally the avenue de l'Opéra is the ONLY avenue in Paris with no trees on it. Why do you think that is? Yep, too easy to hide in.

So afterward, I enjoyed my sandwich on the steps of the theatre and then headed home to get some work done.

All in all I would say the day was a success.

As for Sunday, just a normal day, enjoying the sunshine, going for a run, and meeting up with friends for a coffee and to catch up. I hope you are all able to enjoy the same tranquility!

Miss you all!
-Bekah

les accroaches-coeurs: Angers and the plays dans la rue

Well well well, one week and so far so good? Perhaps it's all those YEARS of experience. Or maybe it's only been a week and I haven't even really started my classes yet? In any case, we DID in fact begin our "integration" into the French society and schooling.

Tomorrow begins our first day of classes with the Middelbury school and then the beginning of October brings my classes at la Sorbonne 1, where I will be FULLY integrated into a French classroom. (Well at least part time.) (For those of you who don't know what I am talking about let me explain. I am taking classes at both a French university, and a kind of "institute" run by Middlebury the American school. In this way I can have the best of both worlds.)

So what have I done with my week of bliss and vacation? Not so much a vacation as prep time. Every day that ticks by is precious time to be used on the thesis. You see, one year to do a masters is NOT much time as it turns out. And I honestly don't recommend it unless you are really motivated to do so. In fact, many of the students are changing their minds about the thesis and they are choosing to do a research project instead (which is about half the writing-25-35 pages). So little by little the group of us sticking out the thesis are becoming more and more intimidated!

So, that's what I did all week, read, acclimate myself and learn a bit about what life is going to be like in Paris. (Of course I can answer that in one word: expensive)

Of course, just because I am in Paris doesn't mean I have to stay there. I decided to take a little trip this weekend and visit many of my friends from last year in ANGERS! What was awesome about Angers this weekend was they have a festival every year called the "accroaches-coeurs" which is like a festival of plays, concerts, large plastic moblie elephants, in the street. I was only able to attend one day, BUT I will have you know that EVERYONE in Angers was there. The streets were PACKED, and I was there with the teachers I worked with and we were amazed by the varieties of spectacle in the street.

One of my favorites included a one-woman show, who was clever enough to take a skit about what provides one with "happiness" that she satirically talked about ways to improve our attitude about life while also talking about current events.

My second favorite was a "Zen" dance, where two women worked together to teach the audience how to be "zen." Okay not really zen, but it was a humor piece where they combined dance with a play-like atmosphere.

We finished the night with a circus parade. BUT not just any circus parade, the kind where all the animals are human made and being run by people. The costumes were brilliant, and impressive for something that must be done in the street. After that it was past midnight, so I head home with my "french family."

All in all I would say it was a successful weekend, and now I must head to bed so as not to be too tired for my first day. I hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you soon!

-Rebekah

Long time...no...

Yep, I've done it again. This blogger is just not used to...well blogging. In any case I thought I would put an update here on my new life, the life I began about 9 weeks ago when I left Bowling Green, OH for Middlebury, VT.

June 25th, I found myself in the countryside of Vermont, scared, nervous, and excited to begin something new, a masters in the French language. I had no idea what was really in store for me.

I took three classes, one in writing, the other two in Mediterranean studies. They kicked my butt to say the least. We had classes 5 days a week, three hours a day, and when we weren't in class we participated in extracurricular activities, such as theatre, choir, soccer, you name it. Let's just say the program is well established and they really create a community so that you will NOT speak ANY English.

In the middle of the trip, I and a couple other gals from the program had to go to Boston to get our visa. As excited as we were to see the big city, it was not really a time for vacation. We got to Boston, had out appointments and got back to campus as soon as possible. Even being away for 24 hours makes one feel behind by about a week!

Finally, we finish our 6-7 weeks at the Middlebury campus, all of us masters students celebrate the fact that we have survived such an intense 6 weeks and feel ready to go home. Of course then we realized that we had to do that only add 8 months. Ha, guess the joke is on us?
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Back home: To Memphis?

So, prior to my departure for France, I had some time with the family of course. Only, not in BG, they had made their big transition down to Memphis only days before I got home. So I had two wonderful weeks with them, as what can only be described as extreme home makeover, with the intention to DOWNSIZE.

I had to work on my room, and you know who came to help? Why ms. Lisa Hainen herself. She didn't even really need to do much, just be sittin' next to me and I would start cleaning. She should really take up a job in that!

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The fateful day when my bliss had to end...September 2nd: Destination, Paris

After a very tearful goodbye on the part of my whole family, I find myself again in the land of wine and cheese. The jet lag this time around is worse than I have had in a very long time. OR at least that I can remember.

I am living with a host family, the mother's name is Marie-Liesse and most of her kids are grown and off doing their own thing but her youngest daughter, Cléméntine is still here finishing her last year in engineering. They travel a lot, and are in fact on vacation this week, but I got to meet them the first day I arrived. (The 3rd that is)

So that's all the news I have for now, and I am going to try and keep weekly posts going this time around.

Miss you all!!!

-Rebekah

Read the label before apply to face

Read the label well

Hello to all my American fans! ;) I have returned safely to the land of cheese and wine, with less bumps than I had when I went home for Christmas. But before I tell of my adventures I want to tell you about a very important lesson I learned last week. Make sure you read the label.

For Christmas I received in my stocking a miniature bottle of lotion. The PERFECT size for taking on the plane, 1.8 oz to be exact. (As many of you know we are not able to take more then 3 fl oz on a plane for security measures. Now having just finished a nice cold, my nose and the skin below it was rather dry, so I applied the moisturizer the entire flight back to France and for at least three days after.

Still my skin remained dry and sore. I credited the extreme cold of Paris, and the flight for this expansion of dryness. BUT as the dryness spread to my chin, and became ichy I thought… “hmmm”. At the museum of 18^th century art, the Nissim de Camondo. I once again pulled out my lotion to apply it to my face, when my friend Allie pointed out that it was not in fact lotion but body wash with lotion in IT!

AHHHH, so I am having a reaction to the “lotion” because it’s actually body wash, which is why my face was getting worse and not better. Inflamed rather than tamed. It’s amazing that I have a college education and missed this minute detail.

As for my New Year’s in Paris.

I must admit that my friend Allie and I had a great time. We stayed in a B & B at Porte de la Villette, which I chose because I had just finished Villette by Charlotte Brontë. We were very happy with the choice, and the people were very friendly and helpful. However, being soo jet lagged we didn’t do as much as we had planned. But we did see a great museum on 18^th century art, that’s sort of off the beaten path, and visited Sacre Coeur and a few other touristy spots.

After a few days in Paris we headed for the city of Dreux (just outside of Paris) to stay with some friends we met at le Rieu (remember the trip to the south of France?-They were at the house we stayed at) we had a lovely evening bowling and then sleeping.

Now, I am back in Angers, and back to work, although I haven’t gotten over the jetlag just yet. It seems to be harder this time around for some reason!

Not much to plan for, mostly just staying in Angers and working for the month of Janurary. I may be doing some babysitting which will be really good, and the girls I am watching seem to be a lot of fun. (They remind me a lot of my lil’ sis and I)

Off to the grocery store I go! My love to everyone,

<3>

Who's up for le Sud?

In brief this post is about: Tarot (the game not the fortune teller), Bergers, 4 hour hikes, 56 year olds dancing to M. Jackson, and making it...just in time to eat.

So, l'Angévine has made it back safely to the northern part of France. What's that you say? You didn't realize I had left the north? Ah yes, the trip to le Villaret, which is a small village in the south of France, lasted for one week. (The last one in October) I drove down with Tiphaine, and Ella (Who is a gal from the French house, and is studying in Strasbourg). We arrived in Montpellier on Sunday evening to pick up Allie, and then made it to le Rieu just in time for dinner. Le Rieu is the name of the house where we stayed. This house is deep in the Cévennes mountains, and uses Solar energy for light and gas for cooking. (For heat it's a good old fashioned fire place or blanket) Just us four girls in the mountains? I think not. We stayed with Tiphaines parents and her parents' friends. We were 20 in all, and man did we have a good time. Getting to know each other, having long meals, dancing, singing, hiking, visiting a shepard...you name it, we did it.
Zo, Day 1:

We wake up, bright and eary, but without any real concept of time. Tiphaine decides to take a bath in the waterfall just below the house. (Yes, it was cold) After having breakfast and getting cleaned up, we headed out for a one and a half hour hike to the Shepard's house. Why? Why not. He's a real Shepard and it might be kind of neat. So we met, Alfred. Great guy, offered us a glass of wine at 11:00am. (Homemade wine...not as great as you might think...we're not talking homemade chocolate cake here: now that sounds delicious)

We had back to the house for a lovely lunch. An apérotif to start and then lovely fooood. Don't remember what, just that it was good.

By evening time we all gather in the dinning room for some games. Tarot and Scrabble to be exact. Not just any Scrabble but FRENCH Scrabble. (I am not as good at French Scrabble as I would like, but I DO like to make up words..."But it LOOKS like French!"

What's Tarot? The closest thing I can think of is Uker. But it is not Uker, only similar to Uker. Kind of like how the French and the Americans are not the same but they are still part of Western culture. ;)

Day 2: 4,000 marches

Wake up time = 5:30am to be at the bottom of the hike by 6:30am. Woot! Who's ready for some walking? Climbing? Tiphaine, Ella, Allie, and I all head for the monumental 4,000 marches, which is a hike that ends at a meteorological lab on top of a mountain. So we drive to the starting point (approximately 30 min from le Rieu) we get out of the car and start to follow Tiphaine. There's the sign "4,000 Marches" we keep walking straight. At one point Tiphaine says, "I think we should have turned in front of the church"

She says it so casually, and with clear intention to continue going straight, that I wasn't sure if she was joking. So I say, "Really?"

"Yep, pretty sure" She keeps walking straight.

"Are we gonna turn around then?"

"Yep" She keeps walking straight.

"Um...when?"

"Now"

So we turn around, and away we go. We did the hike in 4h15min, which isn't bad. (Although we were surpassed by at least three hikers all much older then we, and when asked how long it had taken them they would reply with numbers like "hour and a half" Us flat Bowling Greeners aren't used to these here mountains." )

We get back home for another lovely lunch, which included Jean-Luc dancing like Michel Jackson (Jean-Luc is a 56 year-old dad...one of his daughters was present, the poor dear), and the three Americans singing the Beetles for everyone. Ahhhh...l'amour. After that?! Bathing in a celestial waterfall.

Day 3: A day of rest after a taxing hike

BUT we did make dinner. And we made a potato salad using sweet potatos. Most of our French friends there had NEVER EATEN A SWEET POTATO!!!!! How crazy is that?

Day 4: Into a town, into a town, and out of a town, and home BEFORE dark?

We decided to get up kind of late (8am), pack a picnic lunch, and then head to the gorge to eat it. We drove down, down, down, and then waded through a river to eat onTOP of a waterfall. THEN we head up, up, up to meet our French family in a tiny medieval village. We walked around the village, taking our time, soaking in that authentic FRENCH air. about 4:30 we decided, you know... we want to get back before dark, so we should probably go now. (It's not very fun to drive down our driveway at night...the driveways in Appalachia are very similar)

No problem though, we are no more then 30 min. from home, and sunset is about 6pm. We're only 30 min. from IF the road we want to take isn't closed. We had to drive back through the gorge, down, down, down, then up, up, up...it took us almost two hours to get back. HA. And the darker it grew, the more difficult it was to drive any faster, so we ended up just taking our time, and getting home...eventually. This was not without ridicule from the family of course. What road had they taken? Why were they home before us? They went another way, through another town. They had known the way we had taken would be blocked...and assumed we also knew. Bof. We made it home, again just in time to eat a fabulous dinner, and share a game of Tarot with the girlies.

Day 5: LAST DAY?!!!

We ended our trip by going to the most amazing Marché and hanging out with our new French family.

Present DAY: Now, I am back in Angers, it has been over a week. I'm studying for the GRE, and trying to do lesson plans. Not much else to report. Thinking of going to the Opera next weekend, which would be a nice treat. I suppose I did go to Tours last Saturday (the 7th of Nov), and hang out with the BG kids in Chinon, and Samur. Perhaps that should be another blog. Ta ta for now, Bekah