Loose Ends

So this last week seemed to drag on forever around here. It was the last week of my intensive French class which meant more work than ever- I had 3 papers 3 test and 2 presentations in one week. Some were good, some not that great but they are finally over! Today (Friday) we only had a half day of classes but each class had a little party. In my level we ate croissants and pain au chocolat and played a really cute french game called loups-garous. I liked it so much that I am going to find one to buy and bring home! For the only big news of the evening, tonight was the soiree internationale- a party to celebrate the end of the Prestage and to represent our respective countries. Each student was highly encouraged to make a performance and most did. While I am usually the girl who sits in the audience and watches, I decided to embrace being in France and step outside my comfort zone. My friend Trigg convinced me to sing A Whole New World from Aladdin with him. I've been told there is a video and I pray you'll never see it, but it was definitely a lot of fun. Tomorrow we leave on vacation! It doesn't seem real right now just sitting in my room, but I'm sure it will hit me tomorrow night when I'm sleeping in a Spanish hotel. So, my quest for camel kisses commences ( I love alliterations) and I won't be able to write for a week, although I'm sure there will a gross amount of pictures and things to say upon my return. Hope everyone is well (I'm finally over my cold!) <3 R.

Le Golfe de Morbihan, Carnac & Vannes

The last two days of the week were pretty boring around here- I never really have much to write about schooldays but here are the two highlights.

Firstly, on Thursday I ordered my tickets for our 10 day fall break! We will be flying from Paris into Madrid on Saturday the 26th - from there it is only a short train ride to Toledo so we will bounce between those two cities for 3 days. We ordered tickets for a bullfight (about which I am rather apprehensive) I'm hoping it's more of the stand in the ring and avoid the bull kind of fight and not a chase the bull through the streets with spears variety. On Wednesday we fly to Marrakesh, Morocco! For those of you that didn't know, going to Morocco or Egypt was the number one priority on my travel list. I am desperate to take a bunch of very cute pictures with some very cute camels so stay posted... We stay in Morocco until Saturday October 3rd and then returning home for classes on Monday.

Secondly, on Friday we went to our first Angers professional soccer game and the first soccer game I've ever watched. (close your stunned mouth Jamie) The tickets were very cheap and the atmosphere of crazy fans and obnoxious cheers was exhilarating. We were ahead for most of the game but it ended up being a tie (Seriously? a sport where no one wins? This must be why soccer was never watched in the Sandbothe household) The sport still isn't my favorite, but I definitely had a good time- more so when Trigg and Matt tried to explain some of the rules to me. Right as the game was over it started sheeting rain, after a while we gave up attempting to be dry and just enjoyed the soaking wet walk home.

Saturday was the last excursion during the Prestage and it was hands down the best. I had originally planned on skipping this one to go to Paris with some friends but decided against it at the last minute (thanks for the good advice Mom and Kurt). It was another early morning but I am such a pro at sleeping on buses that I didn't even mind. We arrived at the Gulf of Morbihan in the beautiful region of Bretagne (Brittany). The weather was absolutely perfect- still with just a hint of cold in the air, and I was looking forward to a great day. We boarded a large boat and set out across the gulf. I sat outside on the roof deck of the boat and the wind was chilly enough to make me glad for my jacket. The water was almost deserted and passing empty sailboats and silent houses made me feel like we were the only ones awake. I was the only person from ND on the trip, and it was nice to just be quiet and think instead of talking to everyone else. I don't know what it is about being out on the water that is so relaxing but I could have stayed on that boat all day. Our captain pointed out several private islands as we passed which are home to quite a few celebrities. We stopped on a small island where we were free to roam around and eat our picnic lunch. I walked to the other side of the island and found a beautiful beach and view of the gulf. I just wanted to sit there all day and it took the imminent departure of our boat to pry me from that spot.

The boat dropped us off on another island where we met up with the bus that had taken the auto-route around the gulf. From there we headed to see the megalithes at Carnac. These large stones, which are more than 4000 years old, have been placed upright in long rows throughout the region. There are lots of guesses as why but it's still a pretty big mystery. Normally you can only view the rocks from outside the fence, but this weekend happened to be Les Journées du Patrimoine - where every public museum and monument is open free to the public, even ones that normally never open - therefore, we were incredible lucky to be able to walk around among the rocks. Okay, so we did a little more than just walk around them.

(Papa, you would have been drooling, these rocks were so pretty- I really wanted to bring one home to you :) Can't you see one in our backyard?)

From Carnac we drove to the port city of Vannes. As much as I liked Saint Malo a few weeks ago, Vannes was even better. It still takes me by surprise to be walking through such modern commerce- ridiculously pricey boutiques and large supermarkets- to just stumble accross a thousand year old cathedral- is there one in every city?

It is so unlike the US to have the old mixed with the new like this and I love it more every day. The streets were absolutely packed with people- surprisingly most were locals. We had nearly 2 hours to walk around and I must have poked my head into every little store. I finally wandered back down to the wharf to wait for the bus. I sat on the edge of the bridge with my feet hanging over the water and the sun on my face just listening to the noises of the day. I swear I didn't think I'd ever get sick of being in that beautiful place.

I have offically decided that Bretagne, with its old cities and strong ties to the sea, is my favorite region in France, and I cannot wait to go back.

I could tell you how glorious that place was all day, but I have more homework than I can possibly do so it's back to the grindstone. I love you guys so much. R

So France Has a Lot of Castles

So Sunday was our excursion to see the Chateaux de la Loire. It was not a happy morning considering I woke up at 7:20 and we were supposed to meet at school at 7:15. I literally got out of bed, put on clothes and ran to school. It's normally a 13 minute walk and I was at school by 7:27 just in time to make it on the bus- which left 3 minutes thereafter. I believe the drive was about 10 minutes long with a 3 hour nap sandwiched somewhere in between.

I have to preface all the castle talk by saying something you might find completely deplorable. When it comes to castles, all that truly interests me is the outside. Believe me, I trekked through almost every room in Versailles a few years ago and took pictures of every ceiling and every bed and every fireplace- but the only ones I ever ended up enjoying were of the exterior and gardens. I don't mind a quick peak on the inside to see some awesome clawfoot tub, but I honestly don't need to see another royal bedchamber. My friends thought I was ridiculous for saying this and grumbled that we didn't have more time to visit each castle.

The first castle that we visited was Azay-le-Rideau built in 1515. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, exactly where I'd put my castle if I had one, surrounded by a beautiful lake and stream. The inside was decorated with quite a bit a furniture and was restored nicely. There was also some beautiful stained glass in the library which I took some pictures of. Here's one of the best pictures of the castle.

We stayed for about an hour and got back on the bus for another nap. Next on the list was Chenonceau- probably my favorite of the day. The castle is actually built across a river with arched pilings to allow boat access underneath- it's essentially the world's most high class bridge. It was surrounded by stunningly sculpted gardens which took up an entire hillside next to the castle. There will be more pictures in the slide show but here are a couple that I liked a lot. The picture at the beginning of this post is also Chenonceau.


Okay, last but could never possibly be called least thanks to King Francois the 1st was Chambord. This castle is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. It has 365 fireplaces and 365 chimneys to match. It was actually never completed, there was supposed to be even more lavishness added to the outside walls- apparently this guy never heard that less is more. Anyway, It was absolutely overwhelming so I just headed straight to the top floor to walk around amidst the chimneys. I did stop to admire the signature double spiral staircase (designed by DaVinci) that runs directly through the middle of the castle. For all those beautiful science people out there- it is in the shape of a double helix. Basically two people can climb the staircase at the same time and never see one another- helpful if you're the king and don't want to cross paths with your servants. Here's a picture if I'm not explaining it well. Click me Anyway- the castle was beautiful and nearly every ceiling and wall was carved with ornate salamandars (the king's symbol) and the letter F for our boy Frankie. The best part is- during his nearly 35 year reign, he only spend 72 days at Chambord- he still had 293 fireplaces to go. Here is another picture for your viewing pleasure...
So Sunday, even though I almost missed it and we spent more time on the bus that in the castles, was quite an enjoyable day. I'm not planning another castle excursion any time soon, but it was pretty incredible to think about the people who had walked those halls once upon a time.

Monday was a long day of classes, 9-5 again. Lunch was predictably bad and I was happy for school to be over. My throat had started hurting so I had a quiet evening at home and went to bed early.

Tuesday was just as boring school-wise, the work is starting to pile up for next week though. My night had been miserable because my nose was all stuffed up and I couldn't sleep. I felt even worse on Tuesday but was cheered greatly by the fact that it was host family dinner night. We once again had great food and lively conversation. The dinner was record-breakingly short (only 1.5 hours) so I was able to get some work done before bed. We don't usually begin dinner until around 20:00 anyway.

Today was Wednesday and I felt absolutely miserable at school- dizzy, weak, cold and I've sneezed like 100 times today! There are 5 other ND kids sick as well- here's hoping it will be gone soon. I have a test tomorrow, two on Friday, a presentation and a test on Monday and a paper due on Wednesday so it's going to be a long haul. This weekend there is another excursion on Saturday to the gulf of Morbihan, and I'm looking forward to escaping all the school work. I have class at 8 tomorrow so I'm headed to bed. Love you all. R

L'Anjou Troglodytique & Les Accroches Coeurs

Wednesday: All of the international students at my school were invited to a wine reception with the mayor of Angers, and believe me I really did want to go. What did I miss it for? - food. Wednesday I had already arranged to have dinner with my host family- we have dinner once a week and believe it is not something you want to miss, so I skipped home after school to begin the festivities. Before dinner I talked with my Cecilia for an hour in English! I am doing this in exchange for Carol doing my laundry- who's really getting the better end of the deal here? It was so much more enjoyable to be the teacher than the flustered student, and I even gained some helpful insights. Despite her slow speech and utter frustration with conjugating verbs, I really enjoyed talking to her- for the sole purpose of listening to what she had to say. I realized then that my host family must feel the same way -willing to help me learn, quick to forgive any grammar mistakes, and genuinely intersted in this strange girl who is living in their house. After that little pick-me-up English conversation I proceded to resume butchering French verbs over dinner. Dinner chez Buffenoir is quite an ordeal- I could devote a whole blog entry to this but here goes. First we chat over a bit of crackers and some sort of sparkling wine or champagne. The conversation starts off slowly and I get to hear about the kids day at school. After a while we eat the first course- that night consisted of homemade quiche lorraine (be still my heart) and a tossed green salad. This absolutely must be accompanied by a dinner wine- usually red- of which I learn the origin and palate details from Marc. (Are the Fench required to know about wine?) That course is followed by a round of conversation, approximately 30 minutes, before we begin dessert- usually there is a cheese course between these too. That evening we had homemade pear turnovers with vanilla ice cream- how much puff pastry can my happy heart take? This was indeed followed by more lively conversation, complete with me failing at French, and then some after dinner liqueurs - lemon and apple. After I was completely stuffed they broke out some chocolate toffee candies and we stayed around the table until well after dark. I have come to absolutely adore these scrumptious, warm-hearted, 2 hour affairs.

Thursday consisted of another 8 hours at school pretending I know more French than I feel like I do. The sheer amount of vocabulary that I learn in one day is ridiculous- but will I actually remember the French word for helmet? I'm pretty sure I went home early that night and got some much needed sleep, but you never know. Trying to remember something from last Thursday is proving to be rather difficult- you could come back later and this section might be totally different. :)

Friday we had our first exams in class. We listened to a French person talk at nearly a hundred miles an hour ( well 100 kilometers per hour at least) and had to answer comprehension questions on what we had understood. The second test was also comprehension questions- but over a page excerpt that she had us read. The conclusion of these led to general panicking by myself and Carolyn about how in the world we ever tested into the highest level. I am happy to report though that I got a 14/20 on the written and a 17/20 on the oral. It might be wise to bring up here the wacky French grading scale as explained to me by my teacher. 20 is reserved for God- and they mean it. French students shoot for 10 or better- that is a solid passing grade. 12 is average and anything around 16-18 is extraordinary - her words :) School was thankfully over early that day because most people were going on that afternoon's excursion L'Anjou Troglodytique. I'll gloss over the ridiculously long bus ride which played havoc with my stomach and skip to the good stuff. We visited the troglodyte village of Louresse-Rochemenier (the houses were carved completely out of the soft rock prominent in the region, picture above). The area that we visited had been a working farm until the 1930's and there were still many inhabited troglodyte houses in the area. We saw old farm machinery, wine cellars, oil presses, cisterns, chapels, and everything you would need to live in a sweet underground city. The tour was brief, but very enjoyable- especially the picture gallery of some of the farm's former residents.

We got back on the bus, stopping quickly along the way to see the outstide of a beautiful castle- the first of many this weekend. Our next stop was the caves of the Vueve Amiot a large manufactuerer of sparkling wine- not to be confused with Champagne. We were given a tour in very quick french- but I was able to follow well enough to enjoy the description of the double fermentation process. After a trek through the caves to see the wine in all its stages we were served samples of three wines: brut, demi-sec, et rouge- all very tasty.

We finally made it to the main component (in my opinion) of our excursion- dinner in an authentic troglodytiqe restaurant. The room smelled slightly like cave and was dimly lit, but nonetheless added to the charm of the experience. Our meal was absolutely unbelievable, especially after yet another mystery fish in the dining hall that day. We were served wine, mushrooms cooked in a rich broth, green salad, and a large mushroom covered in an herb ground beef mixture. Thinking this was the main course of our meal we ate almost everything- only to be besieged by the endless parade of delicious mushroom based courses that followed. The star of each were homemade fouées - hearty bread pockets similar to pitas. The fouées were served steaming hot, first to be buttered and filled with a pork pâté, next with mushrooms and a creamy hamburger sauce, and finally with a salty melted cheese on top. No french meal being complete without dessert we forced down healthy portions of apple tart and topped it all off with delicious coffee. This was by far the best meal I've had in France both in quality and quantity, and if we're ever in France together this is something I must share with you.

Saturday morning, after getting in around 11 the night before, I forced myself to get out of bed and head the the marche aux puces- open air market. The atmosphere was quite exhilarating, with what must have been all of Angers bustling around purchasing produce and fares from the ever shouting vendors. I happily bought 12 peaches ( of which I only have 3 left) and and bunch of grapes to serve as breakfast/dinner food. There were booths of olives, spices, produce of every kind, flowers, leather shoes, clothes, handmade jewelry and so much more. This will definitely be a much loved Saturday tradition in Angers.

The rest of my Saturday consisted of making plans for our 10 day break at the end of September. After much agonizing I decided accompany the group touring Italy instead of the one going to Spain- we're working on finalizing the details. Since we had an excursion on Sunday a large group of us went to Saturday night mass where I finally recognized the readings even though they were in French and managed to absorb some of the homily.

Afterwards I met up with Trigg, Phil, and Matt to explore downtown. This weekend in Angers was the Accroche-Coeurs. Basically the whole town celebrates throughout the weekend with large performances and street shows both during the day and at night. The theme this year was angels and demons, and the street was littered with trails of feathers, each leading to the remnants of an exciting performance. The boys and I treked all the way out past the castle of Angers to see a fire-music show. The crew had built a large jungle gym of sorts surrounded by a wide berth of gates to keep crowds at a safe distance. They began the show by passing around buckets of a sawdust looking material- and piling it onto every surface of the structure. Amidst some rather intruiging music and random clips of a United Nations speech, they proceeded to light the whole thing on fire and work admist it continuously adding more flamable magic sawdust and causing large explosions. The men, most with waist length dredlocks and bodies painted like demons from head to toe, had clearly devised a show where they could produce the most fire possible without being arrested, but it was enjoyable in a rather noisy heathanistic way.

After the show we walked back through town and met up with the rest of the ND students who were watching the ND Michigan game at an Irish friendly bar called Falstaff's. They were in the midst of a rowdy, earspliting, crazy-dancing, football watching frenzy with many enthusiastic french boys joining in. I stayed only to see a sad third quater but thankfully left before the rest of the football tragedy ensued. I made it to bed at a decent hour- ready for the excursion the next day.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday- whoops

Yes Mom, I know this has turned into an every-third-day blog but I'm doing my best. Ok, so on Friday night we went to Puy du Fou. Thousands of people in the region get together each year to put on this enormous festival. They create a performance that depicts the history of their region and all the battles fought there. It is absolutely worthy of being a Disneyland show it is so good. My favorite part was probably seeing all the farm animals. (what does that say about me?) They had cows, goats, giant oxen, pigs, piggies, sheep, and lots of horses. Some of the best scenes included a synchronized jousting tournament, a giant village festival with fire breathers and jugglers, several epic battle scenes with amazing original music. It was almost impossible to take pictures so you'll have to do your best with my meager explanations. It was about an hour and a half away so we didn't get home until around 2 in the morning- I sleepily walked home and went sleep right away.

Saturday was the laziest day I've had here by far. I slept until (cough) ish and puttered around my room in my pajamas for most of the day. I did dress and emerge only when my stomach started composing hunger songs. I found a great little boulangerie on Rue Bressigny and proceeded to acquire a little quiche and my favorite tarte aux prunes (plum tart). Here I have to mention that I did indeed miss the marche aux puces- open air market- and a visit to the castle of Angers. However, it was my first Saturday here and there will be plenty more. We ended up having a small picnic in the Jardin du Mail right before Saturday night mass at Saint Joseph. It was rather interesting having mass in French but quite enjoyable nonetheless. The priest was wonderful and offered to give us booklets with the mass parts and responses in French. We will probably go to mass here quite a bit but might move around every now and then- there are a lot of churches in Angers! Saturday was also the first ND football game of the year (get pumped Jamie!) and I managed to find a live feed on the internet. They weren't showing the game in any bars we could find so I'll have to make due. I didn't do much after the game was over. I just goofed around on the internet to break up the monotony of laziness that had been my day.

Sunday we had to be at school by 6:45 to catch the bus for our excursion. After a 3 hour bus ride/nap we arrived at Mont Saint Michel- picture above. I don't know the entire history of the church because it was all explained in French and I was still a bit sleepy but here is the gist. St. Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop of Avranches in the 700's and told him to build a church on the island. The bishop ignored several requests until Michael touched him on the head leaving a small depression there. Note to self: do not ignore archangels. Anyway, the church was constructed and was at some point in history used as a church, prison, and fortress. Only about 60 people live on the island- I can see why with so many tourists tramping about- it is one of the most visited places in the world. Anyway, there were lots of great views and impressive architecture. We had a picnic lunch and I couldn't get enough of the view from a distance- I'm thinking very intimidating to oncoming armies.

Afterward it was back on the bus to visit the nearby town of Saint Malo. The town was surrounded on one side by an ominous wall and on the other by the beautiful Atlantic. The old part of town was absolutely beautiful and there were people everywhere in the streets. All the vendors, artists, musicians and street performers reminded me a lot of Rome. We explored a little bit and then walked to the beach. The highlight of my day was definitely walking through the sand and water looking at the beautiful coastal town and enjoying the glorious sunshine.

Because it was so far away the excursion took up most of the day, and we didn't return until about 20:00. A large group of us intent on something besides a chicken sandwich went searching for a restaurant. We found one and had a great meal- I had moules frites (mussels and fries) a Belgian and French traditional dish which was absolutely fantastic. Quite happy with ourselves and our distended stomachs we returned to our homes.

Monday meant back to classes (resounding boo) and being in school for gross amounts of time. I am in class from about 9-5 every day- it feels like high school all over again. My brain is rebelling against being inundated with French but I'm hoping I will eventually gain control. We aren't taking our actual classes right now, just an intensive French course for one month called the Prestage. 8 hours of French a day has me loving and hating it all at the same time. That evening, and usually two evenings a week, the monitrices (French students who assist with our Prestage) organized a soiree for all the students. The theme was to dress either all in white or all in black (can you guess what I wore?) and meet up at a bar called L'Abbaye. It was abbey themed, as you might have guessed, complete with stained glass windows and an ornate wooden confessional. We talked and mingled for a while, but we walked home rather early to get a bit of sleep.

Today began again unfortunately with school- France would be so much better without that. I have lots of homework for tonight, so I'd better hurry and wrap this up. I guess if I wrote more often I wouldn't have to write as much, funny how that works. After class I went to La Petit Casino - sorry Popsicle it's actually a grocery store- and stocked up on some breakfast items. I've been back at home ever since, eating a bit of leftover sandwich for dinner, Skyping with mom, and basically doing all things to avoid the stack of homework. However, I have class at 8 tomorrow instead of the usual 9 so I'd best get on with it. Tomorrow evening will be a wine tasting with the mayor of Angers and dinner with my host family so myself and my stomach are quite excited. Till then, much love. Rebecca.

First Impressions

Ok, so I definitely owe a blog post for 2 days so here goes. Our walking tour was wonderful, this is a beautiful city with lots of activity throughout the streets. They are building a tramway so there is a bit of construction but it's not very bad. We passed street vendors, cafes, shops, (I'm trying to resist the chic french clothes) some American names even: H&M, Sephora, FootLocker etc. There are also quite a few churches scattered throughout. We went briefly inside Le Cathedral de Saint Maurice which is the picture you see. Everyone was pretty exhuasted so we didn't walk very long. That evening we had dinner at PMcD's apartment with his wife Rosie and children Paul Jr. and Maggie. They were amazingly gracious and let us speak English and eat tacos which was a much needed comfort. Afterwards PMcD drove us back to our houses so we could rest before the placement exam.

Wednesday was my birthday (and my grandma's- Happy Birthday!) and my host mom assured me it was good luck to take a test on one's birthday. The test seemed pretty hard to me, but I ended up being placed au niveau huit (level 8) out of 8. I contemplated asking to drop down a level but I suppose a challenge is what I came here for. The rest of the day was free time so we walked in a large-we're-obviously-americans-look-at-us-group around town. We all bought French cell phones with a rather cheap plan for texting. I can receive free texts and calls even from the US but it would probably cost you an arm and a leg. In case of an emergency though (or if you just love me that much) my number is 0648587312. I don't know how the country code works so you would have to figure that out- France is 33 I think. I also purchased some groceries for breakfast from the store so I won't have to live on Clif bars.

When I got back home my family had made a wonderful birthday meal for me. Dinners at my house are at least 2 hour affairs, but I'm not complaining. We always begin with some sort of sparkling wine- that day it was something very similar to champagne. Mr. Buffenoir explained to me that it is made in Angers the same way as champagne but only in the region la Champagne can you use the name. Anyway, for a while we sipped champagne- 2 different kinds- and ate crackers, talking the whole time. The second course was a wonderful chicken and carrot dish with an almost Indian tasting sauce served over rice. It was incredible and everyone cleaned their plates with wonderfuly crusty french bread. Of course we drank red wine with the main course- that night it was from Spain. I finally discovered that you have to actually refuse more wine before they will stop refilling your class. wow. After the main course we had a salad course with a bit of 3 cheeses: french camembert, gorgonzola and chevre. Finally for dessert we had a tarte aux pommes with candles for me to blow out. :) Mr. Buffenoir took lots of pictures so I will upload some as soon as I can. They also gave me un petit cadeau, a scarf that Cecilia had bought for me. She assured me that everyone was wearing them and I would be tres a la mode. To put it simply, it was a wonderful evening. We laughed and talked and I felt like I was with family, a pretty great thing so far from home. That evening a few of us went to local bar just to hang out and talk for a bit. It wasn't a very late night but truly an enjoyable birthday.

Today was our first day of actual classes. I am with two other ND students who also place in level 8. We have 3 classes: langue, expression orale, et laboratoire mulitmedia. Langue class is a lot of talking, writing, and listening as expected. It was challenging but I think I will be fine. Laboratoire is a lot of the same, just while taking advantage of technology- broadcasts on the internet, websites etc. The most challenging part is trying to navigate the French keyboard. Rawr. Expression orale is just talking talking talking so I'm obviously right at home. Classes are on a different schedule each day and for each level. I seem to generally have classes from 9:00 until 16:00 each day with about an hour and a half for lunch. After classes today I was able to sneak in a much needed nap before dinner. We ate on Rue Bressigny- close to my house- at a little cafe with paninis and sandwiches. Afterwards we met a large group of students- all of the kids were invited- at the same bar ( it seems to be quite the hangout) I was able to talk for a bit, even with several non ND students. Shocking, I know, but they do allow that. I came home early to pay my dues to the blog and work on some homework. Tomorrow we have class and then our first excursion. It is going to be one of the best and I am ridiculously excited! I won't spoil the details but it's called Puy du Fou if you want a headstart. Sorry for the delay- probably won't be able to write until Saturday morning, tomorrow will be a late night. I love you all. R

The World's Smallest Shower.

Well, I am finally in France! My plane took off from St. Louis on the appropriate day and landed in JFK around 11. I found my way to the correct terminal but was told the AirFrance counter would not be open until 13:00 (yes I am trying my best to embrace using military time- I still have to subtract though) I was walking around the terminal and bumped into Ellen and Jason who came from the west coast and had been there since 6:30 am. Needless to say they were a bit slaphappy and we goofed around until more people showed up. Finally we got our boarding passes and made it through security. The five hour wait before our flight consisted of 15 of us being the loudest and happiest people at the AirFrance gate. We spent too much on airport food and commiserated on not being ready for our placement exam on Wednesday.

At 18:00 our enormous plane finally took off. This thing had the nicest first class I've ever seen in my whole life! Everyone's plan was to sleep but when confronted with the fact that each chair had it's own TV screen full of movies, games and tv episodes that plan was soon scrapped. Dinner was a choice between boef bourgignon and polluck, both of which I heard were quite good. Not surprisingly we were also served wine, bread, cheese, butter and a chocolate brownie - also tapioca and cous cous. After dinner was coffee which we all drank before realizing it was not the best idea at 2 in the morning local time. I was still able to get about 2 hours of sleep before landing in Paris at 6:30am- an hour early due to a strong tailwind across the Atlantic said the pilot.

The only excitement at the airport when all our luggage emerged except Doug's - they will send it to him when it is found. We met our on-site director Paul McDowell, affectionately to be called PMcD. We took a large coach bus to Angers stopping for lunch along the way, which offered up the first chance of ordering food in French- rather hilarious to watch us I'm sure. I was able to sleep most of the way (about 3 hours) so that was much needed.

We arrived in Angers and took a small tour of our college, L'Universite Catholique de L'Ouest (UCO). Our subset of this college is called CIDEF- it is for international students studying abroad. On an even smaller subcircle on the Venn diagram there is SUNDEF - the office just for ND students, it's not much but I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time there stealing PMcD's printer.

Ok, meeting our host families might have been one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen/experienced. We were all standing in an awkward circle with bags and bags of luggage (I did not bring the most, mom). One or two itty bitty cars or very nice SUV's would pull up and our host families would emerge. Usually it was just the mom, but in some cases there was a married couple, small children, grown children, an older couple, and even a grandma. We all basically sneaked peaks at them while trying to be invisible. PMcD would greet them and basically pry one of us out of the herd to receive our French kisses. He also had to explain the concept behind and give smoke detectors to each family to be placed outside our rooms- ND decided it was a huge insurance liability. It was quite enjoyable to laugh at everyone in turn and speculate about the awkwardness to follow, at least until it was my turn :) My host mom pulled up in a tiny peugeot and picked me out immediately- they had been given pictures. I got my French kisses and she got the smoke detector and we were off. I could understand about 90% of what she said to me, but I could tell she was speaking slowly. We went to her house ( I am only about an 8 minute walk from campus) where she showed me my room and let me unpack. I have a small but very nice room with a desk and large wardrobe, sink and the -you guessed it- world's smallest shower. I am just grateful for the very nice accommodations.

At dinner I was able to meet the whole family, Mr. Buffenoir is very nice and has a good sense of humor. There are two kids Nicolas (18) and Cecilia (14) who are also quite nice. Dinner was long with good food and lots of questions for me. I did my best to answer and we understood each other most of the time except for a few things- I definitely need a picture to explain mom's draft horse wagon setup. Every now and then the kids would go off rambling about something, Nico is a tennis fanatic, and my 90% comprehension which I was quite proud of would drop to about 5%. The parents could tell and would try to get the kids to talk slower. I am looking forward to seeing how much better I will be able to understand them after 4 months. I was given a house key and the code for wireless internet (I'm trying to not let this be the highlight of my evening :) ) After a little bit of Skype I was exhausted and went to bed. I slept till about 9 this morning and will have to leave soon to meet everyone else. We are going on a walking tour with PMcD and then to have dinner at his house. Tomorrow is my birthday and our placement exam which Mrs. Buffenoir assured me is good luck. I will post some pictures of Angers later. Headed out to meet Claire a bit early and explore. Much love. R