To start where I left off, the soccer game last week was great... Nantes won 3-1 against Rennes, and the experience was great! The stadium was unlike anything I'd seen yet in France... much more modern than most of the buildings, and the crowd was just fun! Most of the cheers consisted only of the word "oh..." so that got old after a while, but I have never seen a crowd that is so good at the wave. Seriously some amazing wave action going on there =).

Last weekend Dad was here. Took a while to find him as his maps were taken with his briefcase in Paris =(, but we found each other eventually and had a great weekend! It was fun to show him around... we hit up the castle, the cathedral, IES, the University of Nantes, Ile Feydeau, Theatre Graslin, Bouffay, lots of shops, La Cigale, a great créperie, the PARADE!!! (I enjoyed the parade if that wasn't evident), and he got to have dinner with my family as well! I think MY favorite part was having him meet my family and get to see my house. My family loved him, and I personally enjoyed being somewhat the center of attention, as most of the conversation had to go through me =). Baudoin and Mimi put on quite the show of cute-ness for him, which was great. Dad was pretty excited about the narrow roads, and the rotating bulletin boards. He seemed to really enjoy the creps as well, once we clarified that they were NOT pancakes =). The drive back to Paris was a bit stressful as we didn't have a map, but we did eventually make it to the hotel, and even back into the city to view (very briefly) the Champs Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. We had to say goodbye in a rush as I had 3 minutes to catch my train, but I was still so happy to see him =). I needed a taste of home at that point, as I'm really starting to miss people, much as I love it here.

This weekend my friend Megan and I are in Paris, as I hadn't done any Paris museums yet and it would not have gone over well w/ the French department at my school if I had returned from France not having seen the Louvre or the Musée d'Orsay. Yesterday we went up the Montparnasse Tower during the day and the Eiffel Tower at night... we even got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle twice, as we were there for more than an hour and half. We've been being crafty w/ making meals at the hostel to save on money, and have had two great dinners so far.... we just filled ourselves w/ bread, cheese, an apple, and diet coke for lunch =). Tomorrow we're trying a tuna casserole... Rachel you should be proud.

This last week brough along w/ it a couple of fun midterms... Grammar and Phonetics, as well as getting a few back. Not terrible, but I'll be happy when Tuesday is over and I'm done with ALL my midterms (I've just got Translation to go). Only one more week until spring break too! I'm singing songs from the Sound of Music with every step! Today was "I've got Confidence". I think that might be my favorite, but that's really a tough call when you're talking so many great songs. I found out also that there is a French version, which I ordered online and am going to give to my host family as a gift (they have NEVER seen it, can you imagine?) I'm going to make sure I get to see it too though before I go back!

Whelp, time on the hostel's internet is up, but I'll write more later...
- posted by Mikhal Rebekah @ 12:09 PM

 
As Grandma pointed out last night, yes it has been a while since I have written. If I was to give an excuse it would be that last week and this week are mid-terms for us, although I just finished my last essay, which is the midterm for my translation class and is due tomorrow! Some people don't like excuses so it's ok if you just think I'm lazy too, that might be the case... that and things here are starting to feel just like normal life, nothing spectacular to write about.

I know however, that's not true, as I think about the differences between life this semester and last. I've reached the point where I don't get nervous asking a question to a waiter or cashier, and talking with my host brother and sister seems almost second nature. I know I make mistakes, but at least the point gets across and it doesn't take nearly as much time as it used to!

The exciting part of this week will be that Dad gets here on Friday! I can't wait to show him around Nantes, and maybe a little bit of Paris =), as well as introducing him to my host family! I'm trying to get my work done for next week before that so I can have all weekend to hang out w/ him.

I had my first discothèque experience last weekend, and it was definately a blast =). I have no clue why we don't have them in the states! Then I had the joy of taking my France and the Atlantic World Midterm, doing research for an essay, taking my French Romanticism Midterm, and writing two other essays last week... plus seeing the movie Big Fish, which was really really good. It's probably almost out in stores in the states since things are so far behind here, but I would definately recommend it. So creative and fun, w/ one of those endings I always like when you can't decide whether to be sad or happy.

Wednesday night will be my first football (soccer) game experience in France... Nantes is playing Rennes, which I guess is a pretty big rivalry, so it should be exciting =). That's about it for now... keep me updated on your spring breaks and what all else is going on back in the states! A bientot...
- posted by Mikhal Rebekah @ 6:48 AM

 
So another day might be soon, or might be far away... but for those of you who have e-mailed and been concerned that I didn't post on Monday I won't make it too far away. So... Rome. We got to Termini train station late morning Wednesday the 18th, and met some friends from IES Kate and Ladonna who had already been in Rome for 4 days to get the scoop on what to do. Their advice was a walking tour, so we dropped our luggage off at the hotel (we later moved to Kate and Ladonna's hostel, as their hostel was awesome, and the hotel was too small to be able to sneak 5 people past the desk for our 4 person room), found "Enjoy Rome" that has the walking tour, and slowly made our way to the Colosseum (the start of the tour), of course stopping for gelatto on the way =). On the walking tour we saw a good amount of the things one is supposed to see in Rome... the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Capitaline Hill, the Vittoriano at Piazza Venezia (known by Romans as the White Wedding Cake, or the Typewriter), the balcony at Piazza Venezia from which Mussolini gave many of his speaches, the Trevi fountain, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Pantheon. This is all with history included, in only 3 1/2 hours! We met Kate and Ladonna at their hostel for dinner, and they cooked for us (yay for saving money). After that we went on a night tour of Rome... we went back to the Trevi fountain, then to Piazza Barberini, the Spanish Steps, and Via de Corso, learning some of the lesser-known stories abour Rome and the monuments there.

Thursday was made a bit yucky by rain... all day rain, of which I was not a fan. So... we got groceries, and Anne-Tiphaine and I took a long walk in the rain, got nice and wet, stopped in a few cute cafés, and finally made it to the place we were meeting the others for pizza... at the restaurant the guidebook calls "the best pizza in Rome". I think I'd re-write the guidebook and tell people what to order there too, because I ended up somehow w/ a pizza that consisted solely of crust and sauce. Anne-Tiphaine got one that had just tomatoes (chunks, not sauce), and cheese, and Cal's had just cheese, no sauce. I guess it's our fault though for not learning Italian before going to Italy =).

Friday we got up nice and early to beat the crowd to the Vatican. We didn't do taht great at making it there before people, but we didn't have to wait too long after if opened, and we had the good advice from some people at the hostel to see the Sistine Chapel first, which is AMAZING. I've seen pictures of it before, but it's not the same as being surrounded by walls and a ceiling all painted by Michaelangelo. Wow. So much to see... I could have sat in there for hours, but I think we were standing there looking around us for a good 45 minutes. We then did the rest of the Vatican museums and such, then when we could take no more art, we headed back to the Colosseum, because Laura and I wanted to go inside (we didn't get to see the inside on our tour, and the others had already seen it). Once again, pretty incredible stuff. The others were tired after that so they went back to the Hostel, but I still hadn't seen St. Peters or the Spanish Steps during the day, so I did both of those things. St. Peters is absolutely HUGE, with altars everywhere all around the cathedral. I did not see the pope, but I'm glad I went to see the cathedral, it's pretty amazing. That night Anne-Tiphaine and I made dinner for the others at the hostel, and then we went back to St. Peters (the others wanted to go, but we couldn't get in b/c it was too late), and then to a castle that's close to the Vatican.

Saturday we hit up the markets, walked from there across the south side of the city to the Bocca de Verité (Mouth of Truth), saw more ruins and more cathedrals, and then started the trip home, taking a shuttle from Termini to the airport, flying from Rome to Paris, taking a shuttle into Paris (I should explain that we were flying on an incredibly cheap airline called Ryanair which is wonderful if you want cheap airfare, but it is NOT luxurious, and their airports seem to be 1-2 hours outside of the city they are supposed to be in), and finding our hostel in Paris (since there were no more trains back to Nantes that night).

Sunday we saw Sacré Coeur, then took the metro to the train station to Nantes to the bus to HOME! Er... home in Nantes, that is =). It was an amazing break, but very tiring, and it was good to be home.

The last week and half have been back to "normal" for me here =). On Mardi Gras my friend John had a party at his house so most of IES chilled there. Trampoline, hip hop, gymnastics, and ultimate continue to bring me joy... it's great to have time again to be able to do things like that. Unfortunately I've had a cough I can't get rid of for about the last week and a half. It's not so bad during the day, but at night it's pretty hard to sleep... I wake up a few times during the night and make myself tea which usually works, and then try to get back to sleep. Oh well, hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I feel bad for my host family too though b/c I know they can hear me coughing during the night... my host mom's been great about taking care of me =)... it's nice to be told what to do sometimes... when to sleep, when to go to the doctor, what to take when. Unfortunately none of it has worked though.

Last Saturday (the 28th), I went w/ IES to Mont St. Michel and St. Malo. It snowed most of that day, so it was a little strange to be seeing the ocean and the snow at the same time, as the climate right next to the ocean is usually pretty mild. Mont St. Michel is definately amazing though.

Sunday I went to church in the morning, and then finally met my oldest host brother, Gregoire. He was in New York City a few weeks ago visiting a company he might do an internship for, so he's full of stories about America. He said it was very dirty, and they asked if I think France or the US is dirtier, and they couldn't believe it when I said France =). Haha, if only they knew the stereotypes Americans have of the French... In their defense though, I will say that the women are usually clean and smell good. The guys usually look clean but do tend to smell pretty bad. Oh well. It may be a pain in the states too to pick up dog poop when you walk your dogs, but it really is a wonderful law to have. It's pretty gross walking around France when almost everyone has a dog, and they think it's the weirdest idea ever to walk around with a bag and pick up poop after their dogs. In their defense again though, I will say that what I have seen of Italy was much dirtier than what I have seen of France.

This Monday I made dinner for my host family... salad with feta cheese, almonds, and beets, breaded chicken w/ spaghetti sauce and cheese on top, green bean casserole, au gratin potatoes, cheese biscuits, and brownies. Everyone loved it, but found it interesting that we eat such big meals for dinner, as their big meal of the day is lunch. I did explain that was more of the kind of dinner we'd have if we had company or something, that we don't always eat that much. At least I didn't feed them hamburgers and fries or corn dogs or something else that would further there stereotypes of Americans.
- posted by Mikhal Rebekah @ 6:48 AM