Week 5

Well it has been a whole week since I last blogged.  There weren't really a whole lot of new things that happened in the past week.  Classes are okay, internship is still boring but the weather is beginning to become more and more beautiful.  One morning I did decide to count how many piles of dog poop that I saw.  I started counting after I got off the bus in the morning and counted on my walking way to class.  13 piles.  That is right.  I only counted going one way so as not to count a pile twice.  The owners of the dogs don't feel is is their responsibility to take care of the mess, so each night the city is hosed down with water. Quite disgusting.  The other thing that I hate here are the birds.  They are not afraid of people.  One day I literally had to stop and let the bird pass.  I realized how sad it was that I stepped out of my way for a dirty bird.
Friday morning I didn't have anything to do, so I walked around in the morning and then met friends for lunch.  We went to a small restaurant with seating out in the sun.  After awhile of sitting there, the sun quickly began to hide behind the tall walls of the buildings making it quite chilly.  The streets were made for this purpose...to keep the city cooler in the summer.  I chose one of the Plat du Jour which was chicken with indian spices, which unfortunately wasn't spicy whatsoever, but was still pretty good. It came with potatoes, sliced carrots, green-ish beans and mushrooms.  Then for dessert I had Panna Cotta.  It came in a small glass, on the bottom was a thick cream, and then the top was a tart raspberry purée.  Quite amazing!!!
Then yesterday, Saturday, I woke up and did some homework.  In the afternoon I was in the mood to craft.  Unfortunately I didn't bring anything with me, so I decided to go in search of a cheap craft option.  I remembered that there is a used book store in Montpellier that sells books for as cheap as 20 cents.  I went there and bought a few books with some good pictures in them, some tape and a glue stick.  When I got home I asked to borrow scissors (I was going to buy some but the cheapest good scissors that I found were 8 euros!).  So I spent some of the afternoon making some of my homemade envelopes from pages of the books.
After about an hour of crafting my host mom asked me if I wanted to go grocery shopping so that I could make my meal that evening.  So we went to the store and picked up the necessary ingredients to make Sloppy Joes.  She and her husband had somewhere to go for the evening so I was cooking dinner for their three kids and one of their friends.  I did a pretty good job, and they tasted quite like true american sloppy joes!  They loved them and told me that they tasted very "american" whatever that means :)Chris and I spent the evening doing our taxes and tried everything possible to make them enjoyable.  Turns out that being married and still in school makes taxes enjoyable for young couples!
Today we had a young couple over for lunch.  They brought their month old baby girl named Ninon.  We started with a spinach salad with beets and hardboiled eggs.  Then we had the main course which was Cardon (which is artichoke thistle and very good!).  It was in a white sauce.  Then we had veal in some sort of sauce as well, and rice. Of course after that we had cheese.  For dessert we had the choice of coconut flan or fruit cake.  I tried the coconut flan....it was amazing!
I am sorry that my week wasn't more exciting...But I am very excited for this coming week because at the end of it Chris will be here!!  Yay!! I can't believe that the first break is almost here!!

The bleh weekend

Well this past Thursday I started my internship.  However the store is very small and does not have many shoppers come in.  In fact, I am fairly certain that the store is supported by the volunteer workers because they buy more things from the store than the clients.  Well I started on Thursday, and they kind of showed my the various products they had on display.  Then they let me look through the catalogues of the products from past seasons.  They also have a newsletter that comes out every couple of months, so I read that.  The most french that I speak while I am there is actually with the workers, it is kind of difficult to speak with the shoppers...I mean they didn't come into the store to have a nice, long, somewhat choppy conversation with an American girl....they came to shop.  So I spend most of the time trying to keep myself warm, pace throughout the tiny store, and try and find new things that I hadn't seen throughout the first 100 times walking around.
Then Friday morning came, and that is when the house cleaning lady comes.  I am not so fond of her....I don't know what it is, maybe she doesn't like Americans, but she is just kind of rude...so I often find excuses to leave so I don't have to stay around and talk to her.  This weekend was the last of the sales, so I decided to go out and get some of my gifts, I did fairly well.  I was able to check at least half of the people off of my list.
On Friday, I had another two and a half hour shift at Artisans du Monde, so I went there after all of my shopping. It was a new group of ladies, so they showed me the same things.  They even handed me the same catalogues and newsletter from Thursday.  Instead of explaining that I had looked at them the day before, I decided that sitting and reading for a bit was better than pacing the store for the whole time.  So I read the newsletter and looked at all of the products for a second time.  I was sure to take my sweet time:)
Friday night was hard because I had been on my own all day long and the nights aren't much different.  So I talked to Chris for awhile and probably fell asleep talking to him or something like that.  But he promised that he would stay up so that the next morning I could wake up and talk to him.  I woke up at about 7.30 on Saturday because I was going to go out with a friend later that morning to help her shop.  I call Chris.  He informs me that he has something to tell me and it is not going to be easy, but reassures me that he loves me and will be there for me.  I had no idea what to expect.  He then told me that he had talked to my dad the night before and my grandfather had passed away.  I have never lost a grandparent before, so I didn't even really know how to react.  Grandpa Froese was so special (all of my grandparents are!!).  He was such a role model and a little sneakster who liked to play innocent.  But all of my childhood memories just flashed with my head, and it was hard to imagine he is gone now.  But I know this is what he wanted, to go to heaven.  I imagine that he is having the time of his life right now and just feels so liberated, and that is the very thought that makes me feel good about this.  It is still really hard.  All I want right now is to be with friends and family, and that just can't happen.  My feeling of loneliness was just doubled.  Chris told me that my wonderful dad had his phone by him in bed and to call him after I found out, so I did.
I told my host mom, and she tried to distract me yesterday.  We walked to the post office in the morning, and then we walked to the recycling bins in the afternoon.  But during a day like yesterday, telling me about the various properties around their house, their garbage system, and different types of plants was of no interest to me.  I was able to get some homework done and I watched a little tv too.
Today I was invited to go to mass with my host family and to a "pot luck" type meal following the service.  Mass was interesting.  I was expecting to walk into an old stone building with stained glass.  It was actually a fairly "modern" building with a projector and everything.  Now I had only been to mass one time before today...and that time the service was in spanish.
After that, we headed next door for an aperitif...apple juice.  After that craziness, we went across the street into a bigger building with lots of tables and chairs.  We sat about 10 to each table.  Each family was to bring something and you shared it with the people at your table.  So we had Dahl, and indian dish (that was supposed to be really spicy...it was far from) , some sort of ham/eggy thing...though it wasn't quiche.  About 15 minutes into the meal we were supposed to switched dishes with another table.  So we got some sort of ham something or other and Egyptian rice. After that, some apple pastry and coffee was served.  There was a choir practicing next door.  So they came over and had a "mini - concert" for us.  Only one of their songs was in french...so I wasn't the only one lost:)
Now today is February 13.  Two years ago (it was Friday the 13th...) my wonderful husband proposed to me on a blue bridge. He gave me a beautiful wedding band. Last year on this day, he took me out to Buca di Beppo in Indianapolis and gave me an engagement ring.  He told me not to expect a ring every year.  But I think that I will still get one today, a ring on Skype that is.....This also means that I left the USA 1 month ago (1/4 done already!)
One last reason to make this weekend not so much fun is tomorrow.  Valentines day.  I only have a huge ocean between me and my Valentine.  This weekend is supposed to be one that you can spend with the one that you love.  I get to see all of the facebook statuses about all of you happy lovebirds that get to see each other this weekend and do something fun together.  I guess I will just have to postpone my Valentine's Day for two weeks when Chris gets to come visit me!!  Technically less than two weeks now!
Sorry that this blog was a bit of a downer, but this weekend didn't have too many positive things.  I am so appreciative of all of the support that I have gotten from friends and family!  Thanks!
A Bientôt.
Bisous,
Carrie

Gigagym

For those who have seen the youtube video for giga pudding, you will be happy to know that in France there is a "giga gym."  I hope that it doesn't make you jiggle like the pudding!!

I finally figured out what "traditional american meal" I am going to make for my family....Sloppy Joes!!!! I was going to make that with my mom's corn casserole as a side dish, but they don't have sour cream in France, so I am still on the lookout for a good side dish to go along with the sloppy joes.  Any ideas are welcome!!!

As I have stated before, my host family enjoys having friends come over.  Yesterday, they had friends come over for lunch and my mom make a "cake."  "Gâteau" is the french word for cake, but "cake" is fruit cake.  French people seem to have a minor obsession with fruit cake.  It seems that fruit cake in the US is the gift that people give around Christmas, and most people never eat...

I had my first english slip up this past weekend.  Wasn't a big deal, but made me laugh.  I was walking to the bus stop listening to my music and I passed my host family in his wheelchair.  And naturally I let out a big  "Helllloooo!!!!!" from across the street.  After realizing my mistake I quickly recovered and said a simple "bonjour" and continued on my way. :)

Yesterday was a good day, as far as things go.  It was the first day where my progress in my french was recognizable. Needless to say, I was quite proud of myself.  I had done well on a placement test for my translation class, I had an intelligent conversation with my host mom, and I enjoyed watching the news because I understood most of what was being said!  Yay!! It was also the first day that though it is still far in the future, there are some things that I will miss about France.  Like the annoying music that they play at the beginning of the 8 o'clock news that makes everything feel rushed and anxious.  The variant of smells here : fresh pastries, cigarette smoke, dog poop, baguettes, etc.  I will miss the bus rides where twice a day I get to just sit, think and listen to music.  I will miss the 5 course dinners (not always....)

Tomorrow I start my internship.  I am both nervous and excited about it.  I just have to remind myself that this is something that I want to do.  I get to volunteer, and get to practice my french even more. I will profit from this!

That's all for now!!

Le Cheese

My host family enjoys speaking "franglais."  Though they don't speak very much english, but do take pride in the words that they do know.  My mother here usually calls it "le cheese" or "la water."  I enjoy it.  In a couple of weeks their son is coming home for break, and they want me to fix a traditional american meal, which means that I need lots of help, because Chris and I normally eat mac n cheese or something along those lines.  This is beside the fact that there really aren't many traditional american meals (at least something that they have never had before!)  I am contemplating just taking them out to McDonalds and telling them that we all eat there 3 times a day, every day.

Today was the third week of school, and still waiting for the homework to come!!  I am not complaining, but it is just strange!  Also, I saw the weirdest happening on the bus today.  A young man was reading a book and noticed a hair on his jacket.  He continued to pick the hair off of his jacket and inspect it closely.  After taking a nice long look at the hair he put it in between two pages of his book, turned the page and kept on reading.   Maybe a keepsake, I don't know!!

Tonight at dinner we finished the remainder of the Camembert cheese.  I am sad because I became quite fond of it, having a little sliver of it after dinner.  I enjoy watching my family eat cheese.  The cheese to bread ratio is usually, little tiny piece of bread : LOTS OF CHEESE.  They always tell me to take more cheese...they are just confused by my nickel sized pieces that I take.  I have noticed that bread seems like it is not so much something to help make more full, but rather a little, edible plate.  They use it to wipe the remainder of things left on their plate.  Turns out that the other night I unknowingly ate caviar with eggplant.  Mom, you should be proud!!!  Had I known, I may have felt differently, but they tricked me:)

Yesterday I went on another walk with my host family and we went to a nice little park, with an old "château":

Actually reminds me a lot of the Oakes, the camp in Sheffield, England where I worked a couple of summers ago.  Speaking of the Oakes, I believe that I will get to see my good friend Dani while I am here in Europe, and I am so excited!!

Also here is a picture of a palm tree :

I just like how fuzzy they are!!  There are tons of them throughout Montpellier!

And Finallllyyyy: Chris and I have our trip all figured out.  He will get here on Saturday the 26th of February (the day before he turns 23!!!) We will stay here in Montpellier until Wednesday morning, pretty much exploring, devoting some time to finding all of space invaders work, and maybe taking a bike ride to the mediterranean sea...it is that close:)  Anyway, we will then leave mid-morning on Wednesday and go to Frankfurt, Germany.  We will stay there for a couple days, and leave early Saturday morning for Paris.  We will get to Paris by 9.00 so we will stay there until Sunday morning where we will part our own ways until May.  We were going to try and fit a quick trip to Barcelona in all of this, but I decided that the stress of traveling wasn't worth missing out on relaxing time with my husband.  

Not too many updates here, some days are great and some days are hard, but overall I know that I (and even Chris!) will profit from this experience.  It really is a once in a lifetime experience and I must remind myself of that frequently!  

A bientôt!

Carrie

Dumpit to Crumpit

So the other day I was walking around and I noticed this playground :

I couldn't help but realize that this....whatever it is belongs in the Grinch or in the least a Dr. Seuss book!

Well today is a Thursday, which means that I did not have class.  I got an e-mail at 9.30 this morning asking me to be at the office at 9.50 so that I could go to my place of internship.  As hard as I tried, this simply was not possible as it takes at least an hour to get there:)  But I got there as soon as I could!  We headed off to "Artisans du Monde", which is not too far from Place de la Comédie, the center of downtown.  It is a small, almost a hole in the wall store that sells fair trade items.  I was exited!!  We went into the tiny back office and I talked with the owner and she explained what I would do, and that I would actually have to talk to french people....as I suspected.  All of the middle aged women working there were absolutely thrilled when they found that an "anglophone" (english speaker) would be working there!  Then as soon as they were excited they were disappointed to find that I must only speak french!  Regardless, they seemed glad that I would be starting next week and seem to be a lovely group of women.  More moms:)  I always seem to get myself into those jobs, but I enjoy it!After this I decided to take advantage of the "winter sales" here in France.  They really only have them twice a year.  Didn't get much except for a beret for my friend Laramie a light jacket for myself :

After that I had a sandwich : ham and butter on wheat american bread. Apparently they use butter instead of mayonnaise. 

There are different stages of culture shock.  The first being the honeymoon phase where everything is new and exciting and sparkly.  Once that phase ends, there is what I would call the "loathing" phase.  That is not actually what it is called, but that is how I feel sometimes.  The other night, some neighbors came over just for an "apéritif."  This quickly turned into them staying throughout dinner and then some.  They were very sweet, and spoke slowly enough so that I could understand.  After a long day, a long night of hearing french people talking loudly and at the same time is just overwhelming, and different than what I am used to.  They were all asking me questions at the same time and expecting logical responses.  At that moment, I wanted to be anywhere but in France.  After the 3 hour meal, I was finally able to crawl up to my room and call Chris and just cry.  I feel better now, but am certainly seeing the differences between my culture and the french culture. 

I know it seems that all I talk about is food, but that is one of the biggest changes personally.   Last night was a night were most french people eat Crèpes.  I asked the significance, and got a response, but all I can remember is that it is some sort of religious holiday.  Anyway, they had a neat little device that cooked the crèpes.  

I ate one with nutella, and one with homemade blueberry jam.  Both were Amazing!!!

Oh, congratulations to all of my friends and family in the United States.  The winter storm made it on the French news!  Looked miserable, though I don't feel too bad because there were many snow days involved  :)

Space invader!

So yesterday I started my second week of class.  I am confused by the lack of homework!!  I seems that by this point I should already be writing papers and giving presentations, of course I am certainly not complaining.
Sunday afternoon was an experience.  We had some leftover beef from the night before so my host mom stuck that in the oven for Sunday's lunch (of course accompanied by salad and green beans).   She cuts the beef into 6 pieces and yep...the inside was still completely raw.  I was just waiting for her to realize that the meat was not cooked whatsoever, but nothing happened.  We continued to serve ourselves the meat.  Oh la la....As it turns out, when the french eat meat, it is still moo-ing.  So as not to be rude I ate my small piece trying not to focus on the chewy-ness of the raw beef.  I guess I probably won't be requesting beef for a meal while I am here.
Then last night was the meal that had been talked about for a good 3-4 days : Chou-Crute.  Which for those non-frenchies reading this is Sauerkraut.  Yep, sauerkraut...the meal that I seem to recall my mother saying when she had no idea what was for dinner, often times accompanied with rutabaga....So no, I have never had sauerkraut.  It wasn't bad, wasn't good.  And it was served with several types of meat including : ham, sausage, bacon?, and what I can only assume was a hot dog.  The downfall for this popular meal of my family is that I overheard my host mom saying that we can get at least 15 meals out of the amount that she has made...I guess I will learn to love this stuff!!
My next topic is how completely unfair it is that the semester I go abroad, Anderson finally gives out a snow day....if not two!  I would deal with the snow and ice if that meant that I got to be snuggled in my apartment with my husband drinking a hot cup of tea!  Now I am not complaining that the constantly sunny days with temperatures rarely dipping below 30 F are horrible...but I would love to participate in a snow day as well!!
Tomorrow is only Wednesday, but already my last day of class...that is weird!  I am also glad that today is February!  That means that I get to see Chris this month, and get to celebrate his birthday with him:)  We finally bought his plane ticket to come to Montpellier, and we are going to rent out an apartment for a few days, but then we want to go somewhere : location to be determined....I guess I should probably get moving on that as that is only a few weeks away!  Yippee!!  I am excited because thanks to a random picture that I took on one of my tours, Chris realized that there is a famous street artist, known as space invader, who has 44 pieces of work up around Montpellier!!  So when Chris comes here, rather than showing Chris the city via landmarks, we are going to try and find all 44 pieces!!

Here are the two the I accidentally found!

Off to doing what little homework I actually have!!