Morocco Overall

So a friend of mine Clara and I went to Morocco and Spain for two weeks for our Easter Break. The trip was amazing and I really feel like I got a good sense of what Morocco has to offer because we went to Casablanca (there really is a Rick's Cafe), Marrakech, Ouarzazat, Tinghir, Fes and Asilah. We only spent the night in Casablanca because we had been told that its a industrial and there isnt all that much to do. We also only spent one night in Marrakech because it was crazy busy and way overwhelming but we did get to walk
around quite a bit and see a lot of the Medina (old part of the city). In Ouarzazat we regrouped and went to the cinema museum there which was awesome as its where they film pretty much any film that takes place in the Sahara and Northern Africa.
Then we headed to Tinghir where there was a gorge but I wasnt feeling that great so I decided to take a morning to myself and read and sleep which was really nice. Then we took a 13 hour bus ride (we were told it was only 11 hours) from Tinghir to Fes, it was awful, first of all we left at 5pm so we were going through the night but then we also went through the Moyen (medium) Atlas Mountains and nearly froze to death as there was snow and the bus's windows didnt completely close. Needless to say I was freezing and got so cold that I couldnt feel my heals and my friend sat on my feet for warmth. I honestly dont think I have ever been so cold that my heals lost all feeling, I was also wearing EVERY piece of warm clothing that I had with me! That night we got into Fes at 3:30am and were about to get a taxi when a young guy offered to help us find a place because the medina was really close. It was great because we probably wouldnt have found a place to stay as everything was full. We went to several hotels and then he took us to someone's home, there is this thing in Fes where they are trying to start up chambre d'hote (welcome rooms) in old homes that are distinctly Moroccan. It was pretty cool but WAY over the top with decorations and there a picture of a child that looked like it had been bedazzled it was wearing so much jewelry. It was really interesting to see what high-end old furniture looked like and was an eye-opening experience into the lives of these people's lives. We then headed to Asilah to spend a couple days on the beach before going to Spain. When we got off the bus, thankfully not as adventurous as the one we took the previous night, and we asked the driver how to get to a hotel he waved down the only car on the streets and asked for directions to which the driver replied, 'hop in Ill take you'(in French). He then drove us all over until we found a hotel that suited us and was in our budget.
Everyone we met was so nice and helpful it was amazing. It made me realize how guarded we are in the States and how we live in a culture that is so fearful of others and strangers. I was amazed at how fast people warmed up to us and swiftly invited us over for dinner or tea. It really was awesome!

Mom and Dads visit

Ok so this is way late going up but I have been pretty sick lately and didnt really feel like posting. But anyway mom and dad came to visit me two weeks ago now, wow it feels like they just left, and we had a great time. I found them an apartment in Vieux Lyon called chambre d'hote or host room. Usually its in somebody's home and you eat with them and can speak with them which is really cool if you know French, but since mom speaks absolutely no French and dad speaks minimal I thought that an apartment would be better. The apartment was in a traboule, which dad thought was amazing, and was built in the Middle Ages and the exterior was renovated in the Renaissance Period. It was pretty cool and inside it was IKEA-ed out so it was all new and modern in an old building with a stone spiral staircase to the rooms. I was pretty proud of the find and they really liked it, plus it was centrally located and awesome.
So they got in on Saturday night and we got to the hotel and chatted and then went to bed. Sunday morning we got up and went to the produce market on the banks of the Rhone to get all of our fruits and vegetables for the week. We also got some cheeses that I like which were a great hit as well, brie (of course) and compte which is a pretty strong cheese but smooth. No one wanted to get bleu cheese, my personal favorite so we skipped that. Sunday night we went to the Opera House to see a traveling symphony play music by Mozart which was great and then we went out to dinnner. All in all it was a good day and I would have to say a semi-romantic day seeing as how it was their anniversary, however, they did have their son tagging along so not all that romantic.
Monday we got up and I showed them Vieux Lyon, Fourviere (the big basilica on the hill) and the theatre gallo-roman or the Roman theatres. After that we went back to Vieux Lyon to have lunch and then ran into my friend Josephine who walked with us to Bellecour (one of the biggest courts in France) and right next to the shopping district. After that we got a drink in Place Terreaux and sat in the sun enjoying the beautiful day.
Tuesday we got up early and went to Marseilles for the day which was absolutely amazing. I had no idea what there was to do so we stopped by the tourism office and got a couple of maps and advice on what to do. First thing we did was take a ferry to Chateau D'If the island from the Compte de Monte Cristo and learned about the history of the island as well as the book and Alexandre Dumas' family. One really interesting fact about the book is that it wasnt written as a novel but as pamphlets to be printed in the newspaper, that way more people could enjoy it. It was also the first book translated into Chinese and was the first international best-seller. Anyway we also did a little walking tour of the city and saw some of the sites but we took our time stopping in stores and looking for cool streets. We also had a little break for ice cream and tea next to the old port which was great and then we headed off to the shopping district. That was pretty much the end of the day in Marseilles as we had to catch the train back to Lyon. But when we got back to the apartment we had some of my friends over for drinks and snacks before we went out for Saint Patrick's Day. Mom and dad stayed in the room while 'us kids' went out.
Wednesday I got up early because I thought I had class but was wrong because it had been cancelled. So mom and dad spent the day wandering around and found a store where the man was making silk tapestries, something Lyon is famous for, to which mom of course became a patron. I also found out that I got into Swansea University so it was a pretty good morning. That evening we went to my family's house to have dinner with them and some of their friends who spoke English. It was a great dinner and we had duck with cherries, rice, salad, cheese and then marquise au chocolat (dont know the translation for English) and some other coffee cake thing but neither had to be cooked and were served cold, it was all amazing.
Thursday we spent the day in Parc Tete D'Or which is a mix between a park and zoo which was great and a couple of friends came along for that as well. We also had a drink by the lake enjoying the afternoon sun. It was a great week to come because it was sunny and warm the entire time! And then we went back to the apartment and they packed and got everything ready to go.

Amanda's visit

The last week has been really busy and exciting. Last Friday my good friend Amanda came to Lyon to visit for a couple of days over her spring break. So I made sure that she saw all of the main sights of Lyon in the only full day we had. I also had a couple of friends over for dinner so she could meet some of my friends here and visa versa. One crazy thing is that there happened to be an Indian (Native American) street performance happening at Bellecour which I thought was funny since she had traveled across the globe to come to France and she sees N.A.'s performing.
All went well and because the last week with mom and dad being here was so busy I have pretty much forgotten the details of Amanda's visit but I felt like it went well and we had fun.

An unfortunate event

Yesterday I decided to go to my first swim practice and woke myself up at 8:30 to make sure I would be there on time. So when I arrived at 9:30 and the coach told me the practice was full but I could come back for the practice 11 I was surprisingly ok with it. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was able to go to the university (which is right around the corner and the reason I chose this swim practice to go to) and submitted my application to Sciences Po! When I returned I had a great swim practice and was really happy with how much I was able to do, particularly since we were doing I.M.s and breaststroke drill kick. Anyway half way through I could feel my lip starting to tingle and as I predicted I had a cold sore coming on. I kept telling myself that if I put Carmex on it, it would go away and everything would be fine and it wouldnt be that big. Now I dont know if its because I went out last night or what but I woke up this morning and its HUGE! Fortunately it looks like I got punched and not like I have a cold sore BUT I made the mistake of just telling everyone it was a coldsore, which I then had to explain what it is. And even luckier for me it was the first time some of the people had ever seen a cold sore. Now I was not only self conscious and in slight pain from the cold sore but I was also a novelty on display and some people told me "Oh gosh I really just cant stop looking at it" or "You dont look very good today are you feeling alright" although that last one might have been because i didnt sleep a lot last night. Anyway getting a cold sore sucks but getting one in a foreign country, having to explain what it is, and then having everyone wanting to get a better look blows!
For obvious reasons I have not included a picture in this post but Im sure you can image what it looks like when three cold sores fuse into one.

Day trip to Dijon

Saturday I went to Dijon with two friends for the day and it was absolutely beautiful. We took the 7:20 am train which was a little rough because I had to get up at 5:30 to get to the train station on time but it was actually a lot easier than I was expecting. It was also really nice that we left so early because we got in early and had 9 hours in Dijon. I was surprised at how fast the time went by because there isnt a whole lot to do in Dijon but it was the perfect day to go because it was sunny and warm. First thing we did when we got to Dijon was have a vin chaud (hot wine) we went into the cafe to get a coffee and hot chocolate but all of the locals were drinking at 10am so we figured when in Dijon, do as the Dijonnaise. It kind of set the laid back tone of the day because we pretty much went from spot to spot around the town just meadering around the town and stopping rather frequently to eat or get a drink.
The day flew by and we did a bunch of circles but I really feel that we did everything that there was to do and really experienced Dijon. We went to the open air market where I took the picture of the nun buying veggies and then we hiked around town a bit and saw some unneccesary PDA that is very typical in France. Oh and we learned that most of the mustard that we buy is from a vinegar base but its SO much better from a wine or champagne base and when made fresh plus the choices available were unreal; like fig and pecan to mushroom and balsamic vinaigrette!
Another really cool aspect of Dijon is that they decorate the roofs of the building with intricate colored patterns which was beautiful. You should be able to see it on the roof of the cathedral which definitely gave it a unique quality and and broke away from the typical serious church look

Rouen

So after a couple days in Paris and the day before I was planning on going back to Lyon, my friend who I met in Lyon called to see if I wanted to go somewhere in Normandy as he was coming back from Frankfurt with a friend. I of course thought a sneaky trip to somewhere would be fun, when I remembered that my friend from high school Catherine Wagner was living in Rouen, a medium size town in nowhere other than Normandy. So I facebooked her since I didnt have her number and she called me back to let me know that we were more than welcome and that we could stay with her. Rouen is an unknown gem, it was built in the Middle Ages like Lyon but the architecture there is so much different, think the stereotypical German house with the white plaster and brown wood and replace the duo-toned house with a mutlitude of colors, not more than two colors on any one house but there was blue and yellow, pink and a brighter pink it was really cool. Plus the city has an amazing mixture of architecture from the Middle Ages to very contemporary, for this we can thank the Allied forces (read Americans) who bombed the crap out of it at the end of World War II essentially destroying hundreds of years of amazing architecture and completely flattening the left side of the river that was of course built up between the 1950-70s in the same beautiful and well appreciated style as aforementioned in my bit about the 13th arrondisement (sorry I forgot to add that this is essentially the French word for district or section).
Jett (my previously mentioned friend) and I hung out with Catherine and her awesome friends and were pretty much able to see the whole town seeing as how its not that big and can be walked in about 20 min from the train station to the river (Seine). We drank loads of coffee (around 4 a day) and indulged in all of the local delights aka pasteries. We also went roller bladding, I know what youre thinking, but it is the hottest thing in Rouen and you can blade right next to the river for about 20 min before having to turn around, and you can rent the blades, it was great fun. And that last sentence was an overuse of commas but I enjoy them. One of the most adventurous parts of the trip was getting into Catherine's apartment, because she is an au pair her housing is arranged for her and since her family bought a new dance studio she gets the apartment above it. Sounds great but she has to cut through classes and pull up a huge black velvet curtain to get into the backroom (read unfinished garage looking room with old furniture, a CROSSBOW, very excited about that but she wouldnt let me play with it, and couple of surfboards. Then you had to risk your life up the most rickety flight of wooden stairs I have ever ascended/descended to get to her spacious apartment. It was great, not completely finished but great minus the whole toxic mold growing in the floorboards in the bathroom and the mushrooms sprouting next to the shower because it leaked. But as I said very adventurous!
Oh Jett and I also went to the local Musee des Beaux Arts and saw several original Monet paintings and the coolest staircase I think either of us had ever seen. Ive included a picture, its the one with the crazy orange lines, look in the mirror in the corner, the lines turn into a perfect target in the mirror, its amazing. Its supposed to mimic the painting that is at the top of the stairs that I took a picture of but you cant really tell its anything because of the angle it is skewed at. It blows my mind the mathematical calculations that would have had to take place to paint this painting of a biblical scene that you can only truly see with the help of a cylindrical mirror! And it was done ages ago, absolutely amazing
After about 4 days in Rouen and after seeing her bf perform in a local pub, which was really cool,
Jett and I said goodbye to Rouen and to Catherine and headed back to Lyon where is was raining, cold and caused me to become immediately homesick. Thankfully the sun was out this past weekend and I got to go to Dijon with some friends which I hope to post tomorrow.
Oh and I forgot to mention, I guess this is what I get for not posting regularly, but I saw the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and have included pictures of the church that was dedicated to her. It doesnt look like a church though it looks like a bunch of crazy peaks. Also the picture with the old buildings is based around the ruins of a Roman market, pretty freakin cool.

Paris

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I didnt realize how long its been since my last post, for that I apologize, as I know there are loads of people following this and just cant stand the fact that they dont know whats happening in my life. haha
Anyway for the week break in February, because more than a month of school is just too long to endure without a break as decide by the Minister of Education, I went to Paris to see my good friends Caterina and Quentin. Cat was kind enough to let me stay at hers which significantly reduced the price of the trip since you can not find a hostel cheaper than $30. Also she showed me around her arrondisement which was great and centrally located so we never really had to go far to see anything. It was great, I mostly walked from cafe to cafe getting something to eat or drink, ok not really but this is what it felt like because every couple of hours I was stopping in at some recommended spot for a snack. One snack in particular that I would like to discuss is my hot chocolate from Deux Magots, yes the Deux Magots written about by Hemingway, and got a goute (snack) from Laduree. Mmmm the Macarons from Laduree are amazing and typical to the arrondisement in Paris. I dont really think this does them justice but it is kind of a sponge dough that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside (think cookie shaped) with two pieces stuck together with some sort of filling. My favorites were blackberry and caramel!
Back to the subject of Paris, since it was my fourth time to Paris I decided (again) that I would not do all of the touristy things, didnt happen I took around 20 pics of Notre Dame, love that place. But I did make it out of the touristy area and hit up the 13th arrondisement which is the Asian Quarter. Not going to lie, I would stay in the touristy area, there is a reason its popular, its because its pretty. The 13th arrondisement was not the beautiful Paris scene that you dream about, instead it was tall grey or white buildings built somewhere between the 1950's-1970's not a particularly beautiful period of architectural history, at least in my mind. So this place looks like you would image the old Eastern Block to look like, save one plaza that had pseudo-asian architecture, plus it was a gloomy day which only added to the oppressive and dank feeling. But it did have one redeeming quality, the Asian market, I dont know about all of you but I quite enjoy my Asian food and this place was like Mecca yet it was not the beautiful Americanized Chinese food we all know and love. This was some of the most bizarre food I have seen packaged in unassuming boxes and plastic wrap. One example; a can of jus de coco asada, sounds great right, roasted coconut juice/milk. NOT. This was a pretty can labeled in English and Spanish that had CHUNKS of coconut floating in it, Im not a huge fan of pulp so having a chunk the size of a pea float through the luscious cap and into the back of my throat was 1) not something I was expecting and 2) is not a sensation I would recommend to anyone. Upon further inspection I found that it was not an accident but the can was crawling with chunks of coconut, not pretty white flaky coconut but nasty brown and white chucks that looked like puke! However undetered I also tried a nice bottle of Ginseng, with the root floating in the bottle but luckily for me and the people around me in the 'splash zone' the root did not exit the bottle mid-sip.
Although I put a slightly negative spin on my purchases I did get to see some man order 7 kilos (about 14 pounds) of fresh tune. One hopes that isnt just for him and he also received this treasure in a white garbage bag and it cost him over 120 euros! Probably much cheaper than anywhere else. Yet I did not question how fresh the fish was, one because I was overwhelmed by the variety and two by the smell, and it wasnt until I saw large fish tanks in the back that I realized just how fresh that fish might have been, not saying that every fish I saw was alive but I would say that those fish looked like they do in Pike Place Market, for those of you who have been to Seattle you know what Im talking about, for those of you who have not, I would highly recommend taking a gander at the fisherman who literally chuck the fish at each other while they are serving the customers.
Overall and as usual I had a great time in Paris.
OH I almost forgot, I went to Sciences Po with Cat (if you read this thank you so much for going with me) who had to find it because there are several different campuses none of which are clearly labelled. So at Sciences Po I spoke with the woman in charge of the program for about an hour about the varying aspects of the program and the university. All I can say is please keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer or whatever it is that you do, for me because I really want to get in!

Masters applications

On a slightly lighter note and definitely less whiny, I have decided to apply to the Paris campus of Science Po, a highly respected political science and business school, for a Masters in European Affairs. I am also applying to Swansea University for an MBA and to University of Sydney for a Masters in International Business.
With each degree I have found a way to tie it back into my undergrad, I know mom and dad are thankful about this, with an emphasis in film and the international production, distribution and marketing of media and cultural goods. Hopefully I get in and hopefully everything goes smoothly with the visa application processes.

The French University System

Unlike the US where most teachers give out syllabi, the French university professors give you a list of books that they feel will be advantageous for you to read throughout the semester. And again unlike the US they do not give you specific sections to look over but simply give the author and title and leave it at that. When pressed for what will be covered in the semester they respond with a "show up and see" sort of response. Not that this is all bad but it is a bit of shock coming from the States where the professors make sure you know what will be covered and when, so that you can follow along, aka "hold your hand". However, being given 5 books to read and no direction as to what will correlate to the class is a little daunting to say the least, then take into account that it is in a foreign language and you can see how I am a little stressed. Additionally class time is spent with the professor talking at not to you without power points or other electronic visual aids and you have to hope that in each class the professor remembers chaulk or a dry erase marker so that they can attempt to draw simple illustrations. Also there is no formal structure to the lectures and tangents and asides are common as are repetition, which makes it all the more difficult to follow along and nearly impossible to take notes!
And the French final exam systems... they are comprehensive, no shock there, of the entire semester but the approach to the final is much different; 1) they tell you it will be during the week of finals, no date 2) that it will cover what is talked about in class, again not shocking 3) you will be given 1 maybe 2 questions to answer and usually you are given 15 lines to give a precise and detailed answer. Its that last bit that I am having issues understanding, how am I supposed to answer a complex question in detail while pulling from an entire semester of convoluted information and fit it all into 15 lines? And one question, that doesnt give much room for error and 15 lines definitely doesnt give room to talk your way around a subject that you are trying to describe in detail.
While reading this, it doesnt sound that difficult and if in the States I might not have a problem but as I face the thought of having to 1) comprehend the questions 2) think in French about how to best respond and 3) then write precise responses, it is more than a little unnerving. However knowing that this system makes it very difficult for one to pass the French University system has built-in re-take periods about 3 weeks after the first exam to give you a second chance, seeing as how you will most likely fail the first go around. To me if your setup is so difficult that you have to allot a week for re-takes I would thing they would add a little more direction to the students and only give them one chance to pass (refer to French bureaucracy, for explication of the French thought process). Yet I understand, different country, different history, different culture and a different outlook on education.
I think the biggest issue Im having with all of this, and Im going to be really honest here, is that Im actually going to have to study and prepare for finals. That being said I believe I just annuled all of the previous concerns and you now understand why Im complaining!

Les Alpes

This last weekend I spent a little time snowboarding and skiing in the Alps. I stayed at a friend's Chalet in Samoens and skied le Grand Massif. It was amazing and just as beautiful as I expected! The runs (called pistes here) in Europe (or at least where I skied) were a lot thinner than in the states, just like everything over here I guess. At home the runs are as wide as 4 lane highways which was not the case at le Grande Massif, there were a lot of runs that were really small connector runs and some were just straight up tiny where you had about 6 ft between a cliff and a snow wall!
Anyway I started off my adventure in the Alps by snowboarding which was going really well the first day until I was on the last run and literally about 3 min from the bottom when I caught an edge and biffed it HARD and straight onto my left cheek. I remember the sensation of falling and the impact of hitting, upon which I saw a mesh of green and blue which quickly turned to all white. I also remember the feeling of my body moving but not a clear sensation much more like falling in a dream. Luckily, Griff and two of the girls who were in the group with us were behind me and they all stopped to make sure I was all right. Apparently Griff was the first to stop but I dont really remember him being there until after one of the girls skied up, which I was told a good 5-10 seconds later. Griff had to hold up my head because it was wobbling about and I remember trying to talk but not really being able to make coherent sentences. Griff also told me that I landed straight on my face without any hands blocking the fall and then my body just stopped moving other than the flip I did because my board went over my head and drug my body with it. Other than that tho the first day was amazing and sunny and really great. But because of the fall being on the last run of the day I was a proper scarredy-pants the next day and decided to just do a half day as well. So Laura, the friend who's chalet we stayed at, and I drove to Geneve to pick up her friend who was flying in to meet us. I also decided that I was going to ski for the rest of the trip because I was not feeling the whole boarding idea.
I surprised myself at how good I still was at skiing seeing as how I haven't done it for over 5 years! I was able to keep up with everyone else a lot easier and I was a lot more confident than I ever was on a board. And on the last day I was doing jumps, not huge ones but a couple seconds of airtime.
Oh and I also bought a helmet after the fall as did one of the girls who saw me fall. I guess if youre going to fall you should be proud of the fact that you can take a beating so hard that you inspire others to buy helmets to protect themselves from a similar fate. haha
Hope you enjoy the pictures, it was amazingly beautiful! It also snowed while we were there which was fantastic and surprisingly not that cold! There was also an inversion layer of fog that made the mountains look that much cooler.

Water Polo

So today was my first day with the water polo team but because it was the first practice of the semester there weren't a lot of people there which was fine with me because I sucked! Ill sum up the practice in one short sentence.

Playing water polo takes more energy than conquering the world!

Enough said but Ill explain why...
First off the rules of water polo mandate that you can only touch the ball with one hand at a time, how lame is that, if I have the capability to tread water and hold the ball above my head with both of my hands I see no reason why I shouldn't be rewarded for my outstanding capabilities! Second no one wears goggles in water polo so by the end of the match all of the lights have amazing halos and you look like you have been smoking weed for the past few hours because your eyes are so blood shot. And finally swimming back and forth across the pool (we played the width of the pool not the length, THANK GOD!) while trying to see where everyone else is and keep your head above the water is exhausting. And that doesnt even include the constant changing of directions, I mean you think just swimming back and forth would be enough but trying to maneuver your body quickly in the water in an upright position is not as easy as the Olympians make it look!
Nevertheless I had a great time and plan on continuing my weekly masochistic ritual of water polo.

Classes and French Bureaucracy

As most of you know I was supposed to take 2 psychology classes at Lyon 2 (I am enrolled at Lyon 3 but through an agreement between the universities Im allowed to take 2 classes at other Lyon universities) and I will be able to but to get to this point was a mess. I started off in Arizona making sure that it would all be ok, which I got the ok from the schools in France weeks after several emails. I arrived and looked at maps seeing where the two universities are located and such which is really confusing because each university has 2 campuses but they are not titled as main or primary campus or anything that would be helpful to someone who doesnt know that city or universities. But anyway I talked to the adviser for the international students at Lyon 3 and was told to go to the closer Lyon 2 campus (on the Rhone and right next to Lyon 3 other campus) which I thought was great because its only about 10 min on the But when I got there and asked where the international office was NO ONE knew so instead of telling me they didnt know they sent me all over the campus and finally to the wrong room, which I didnt find out was the wrong room because it was closed that day. So I went back the next day to that room and spoke with the woman there who sent me to the correct place. I arrived at the guys office (who I for sure thought was going to be a girl from his name Emmanuel) and he told me that the classes were offered at the other Lyon 2 campus and that I would have to go there to get the livret du cours (book of classes) from some lady who I for sure thought was going to be a man (francoise). So I spoke with her (after an hour and a half journey from my house!!) and she told me that she was not the right person to speak with about this but that she would be able to give us the livret du cours. So we (me and the other psych student from UA) spoke with her and she told us some of the most useless information ever but I did find out that classes at Lyon 2 are taught from the Freudian perspective which has been discredited in a way in the states and is taught as history and not the contemporary way of thinking. Woo! And this is where the story gets good, the two classes together only come to 4 ECT (european credit system) credits which means that I will receive 2 credits for the classes back at UA so I will have to go BEG the professors to both give me an extra credit point for their class so I can at least get 1 class taken care of over here. So I now have to take a correspondence course from home which is going to be expensive and I dont even know if I will get enough credits from the two classes here to cover the other class. So Im really hoping that everything will work out and I wont be 1 credit shy of graduating in May which would really really piss me off!
Anyway enough minging! Im still really happy to be here and my French is getting so much better and I can pretty much understand the gist of what people say to me! Which is a huge step forward now I just need to work on speaking which is really difficult. As I am constantly thinking about the correct grammar and pronunciation as well as the fact that even if I do get it all right the French still wont understand me because they hear the accent first and then what Im trying to say!

Food

Well I have decided/have kind of been forced to give up all of my hesitations to food. Its literally impossible not to ham or pork products here so that one went out the door, pretty much the first week because hunger took over and well lets just say it won. But it did make me really sick the first time I ate pork and the second time I had a stomach as well, and not just because of the psychological stresses of eating something I have avoided for so long. I still dont really like the taste of lunch meat ham but they have smoked ham here that looks like bacon and tastes like salt which I really like haha.
Im really proud of myself because I have only not eaten one thing that was put in front of me! It was this hors d'oeuvre (which in France is served at the table and an appetizer is passed) it was an egg that was soft boiled for two minutes so it looked like it hadnt been cooked at all but apparently it was enough. Then on top of that there was this creamy stuff that had a sort of caviar in it and it was refrigerated all together in a wine glass. It looked really cool in the glass but the overwhelming taste of the ocean was a little too much for me and after 2 bites I couldnt do it anymore and had to stop eating. I felt really bad because Im thinking that it was pretty expensive to make but I just couldnt find it in myself to eat it.
Oh and last night I had gizzards!!! I was really really concerned about this because I have this image of the sac that dad would pull out of the chicken or turkey and eat when they are all slimy and nasty looking. So apparently the concern was apparent on my face because my the mom asked what the problem was and I said that I didnt think I would like them but that I would try them. So anyway she made half of what she was planning because I didnt know if I was going to eat them...not my most brilliant moment. But I tried them and they are actually really good! She made them a lot differently than I remember dad eating, she pan seared them so they were cripsy and you have them in a salad with tomotoes, dijon vinaigrette and walnuts. And then we had pasta with butter so it was a really nice dinner.
As I ramble about food, last Sunday it was the mom's birthday so she had her neice, nephew and their two children over as well as one other nephew who is my age. I made salse and guacamole which were a big hit, esp the guac. Then we had boeuf bourguignon with rice which was amazing and two types of French cakes, it was great! But we started the lunch off at 11:30 (a little early I thought) but we didnt eat until 1 because we were drinking Scotch and Pineau (some French wine-ish stuff that is really sweet and really strong) not together though. But we were just drinking with mostly Scotch and a splash of coke, it was an adventure and this was before lunch and I hadnt eaten so I got tipsy pretty quickly. But with lunch we had two more bottles of wine between a bunch of us which wasnt that much but there was also wine in the food. And then after lunch we went and had coffee in the salon and had more dessert! All of this took about 5-6 hours because the guests didnt leave until 5:30 but that was with a lot of chatting afterward. It was amazingly long but really nice because we got to chat so much but I was SO tired afterward.

French house

Oh here are pictures of the outside of my house in France and my room/bathroom. The bathroom is in a door that looks like a closet and I think it used to be one because there is an identical set of doors on the other side of the wall and I believe its about the same size. Either way its big enough and really nice to have my own shower because the rest of the family shares a bathroom! Such luxury I have. The circular thing in front of the house is a pool but now its more like an ice skating rink.
The building to the left is the house and the building straight ahead are the garages. Its hard to see the separation in the buildings and Ill try to post a better picture soon but its the best I have right now. For the garages, the one on the far right used to be used to dye clothes and there is a huge concrete tub and chimney for heating the water and everything. The middle garage used to be the horse stable and I believe the one on the far left used to be for all the saddles and riding equipment. Then above the garages are apartments that are connected to the house by a walkway that goes through Gregoire's room, which I know means nothing to you but oh well, and Im assuming used to be the servants quarters. The house was built in the late 1800's and the garage was built in the 1600's and served a massive mansion that was torn down.
Oh just an aside, a toilet (a modern one) froze the other night in the garage and caused a water line to burst upstairs so Wednesday we spent the afternoon hauling everything out of the garage and assessing the damage. Florence (the mom) has some amazing old furniture in the garages and luckily nothing was damaged so that was good but it was so cold! Fortunately we just had to throw out some old toys that the boys dont play with anymore and some boxes but everything else was spared.

International Commencement Party host by Lyon 3

So last night was an amazing night out. Lyon 3 (my university) hosted the party at a private club, sounds spendy and luxurious but it definitely wasn't! There was a free coat check and the first drink was free but it was crappy beer or horrible sangria (well free as in I paid 6euro to get in). Anyway the night took a while to get going because it was the first mixing of the SELF (English only classes) and DEUF (French only classes) students so a lot of people didnt know each other and there are a lot more SELF students than DEUF. But the night eventually got going and everyone was dancing and it was really nice because you knew that everyone there was from the same university and in the same position of not really knowing that many people. It was also nice to know that there werent any creepers and all the music reflected the fact that we were from all over the world.
On the way home after the club was slowing down at 3:30, apparently an early night in France we decided to walk to a friends apartment since ALL of the public transports STOPS at 1am. How that makes sense I will never understand but we walked for at least 2-3 miles. And the girls, Alice and Judit were talking and walking so slow so it took forever. After a good hour and a half of walking we finally stopped at a metro stop because it was going to open in 15 minutes. So I took the metro to Gorge de Loup (my metro stop) and found that my bus didnt come for another 35 minutes and seeing how it was 5:23 in the morning and I was freezing I didnt really want to wait. So I hopped on another bus that has one similar stop to my bus but because the scrolling sign telling us where we were was broken and there obviously werent that many people waiting for the bus it didnt take very long and I missed the stop. So I had to walk back to where I was supposed to stop and then up the hill to the house so I finally got home a little before 6am and went straight to bed. And then Gregoire woke me up at 1:30pm while he was singing because he thought he was alone in the house. Hilarious
Oh and to add to the night when the metro opened I turned around on the stairs inside the station and grabbed the handrail which was still wet with a horrid orange paint. There werent any signs or anything I was so upset because I thought I had ruined my leather gloves (well dad's leather gloves, thanks for letting me borrow them!) but luckily I was able to get it all off as well as off the sleeve of my jacket. ugh pas bon chance!

First real post

Lyon is amazing Im so happy to be here. Speaking French has been much more difficult than I originally anticipated but Im getting the hang of it and I can pretty much understand what people are saying. I have a lot of work to do to become fluent, particularly with my grammar but that will hopefully come soon. To help Im reading, which has turned into translating because I dont know a lot of the words, a childrens book called Les Memoires des Anes ( Memoires of a Donkey). Its supposed to be for children under 10 but its really difficult for me and there have been conjugations in form that I didnt previously know.
I went to Vieux Lyon (old Lyon) with the mother of the family Im living with and its so beautiful. There was a bit of haze so the pictures didnt turn out that well but it was absolutely amazing. In the old part there are Tabbules (sp?) basically they are these hidden pathways through the buildings that connect parallel streets because the streets were so long. It was crazy, there were all these doors that just look like and other entrance to a building but they open and inside there is a walkway and then a courtyard and another walkway and viola youre on another street. The other amazing thing about it is that they are all decorated differently and some are very ornate and cathedral like.
I also got to try some real French desserts from a Patisserie and they were so good and crepes from a guy on the street with a cart! It was delicious, all the food so far has been except for one pumpking dish that I didnt like and another one that was a half cooked egg is a wine glass with creme fraise and a type of caviar that we dont have on top. Not my favorite! It was way too salty for me and the texture and popping of the caviar was not something that I really enjoyed. And I hadnt even gotten to the half cooked egg!!!!
Im going to post some pictures and in the next few days Ill take pictures of my room and the house.

First week

hey all so this is my first post and I know not that exciting but Im running out the door to buy groceries for an international potluck tonight with some of the other international students before we go out for drinks and to explore the nightlife Lyon has to offer. Hope this works