Les Mecs

The French friends that Mamie and I made a few weeks ago decided to plan a trip to take us to some châteaux on Friday since none of them had work. They picked us up at our house with a huge umbrella because it was pouring. Only the château trip days, of course. The château Chinon was about 20 minutes in car from our house. When we got there it had stopped raining and the sun came out...it was so beautiful. Chinon is on a hill above the city and it was nothing like the other castles we've been to. It's more like ruins of a castle instead of having all the fancy beds and tapestries on the walls. But we got to go up into the turrets and look down on the city and the Vienne River. We could see mansions with huge vinyards all around the castle and when the sun shown everything was green and beautiful. That kind of beautiful after it rains and everything glistens. Romain, who I call Monsieur Histoire because he has his Masters in History, had a whole bunch of random information about Joanne d'Arc and the castle de Chinon. We went into a tower that had a Joanne d'Arc museum inside. 4 levels of her life story, and pictures. It was quite interesting but the buttons didn't work at many of the stations to explain to us what some things were so we just looked around, and of course, took a lot of pictures!


After we left the castle we walked though the streets of Chinon and saw I horse draw carraige, we also saw the place where Joan of Arc got off her horse and where she placed her foot! I put my foot there so now I've walked in the footsteps of a great woman! We walked down to a wine store and I bought a bottle of, apparently, very expensive French wine. It was the same price as normal wine in the US. I hope it's good! It started raining on our way there so we all had to pull out our umbrellas, but by the time we got out of the store it wasn't raining anymore. So we decided to go to another château.

This château is called Château d'Ussé, the castle that Sleeping Beauty is based off of. It's a very fairytale-like castle. You can just picture a princess looking out the window. We weren't able to go in because it was closed but they open again on the 14th of February so we might go back. But I got some good pictures of it from the outside.

On our way home we passed by Alban's house because the guys were going to football (soccer) practice and he needed his gear. He has a pool in his yard, marble stairs up to his house, and his sister lives in her own house right next to his. We got to meet his mom and she's just so sweet. She spoke French she softly and calmly it was easy to understand. Alban looks just like his mom. We also got to see his Suzuki motorcycle. Red. Beautiful. Yum.

From there they took us home and we had to get ready for the party that Jaqueline and Xavier were having for some friends of Geneviève's (the lady that originaly ran the Internation house I live in, but she died in October). We all got dressed up and went downstairs to greet our guests. Each guest that came in wanted to know about each of us so we ended up telling out story of where we were from and what we want to do with our lives several times. But there was plenty of wine so we all made it through the night just fine. Good hors d'oeuvres, great quiche, and some wonderful Pear pie... mmmm!!! After dinner I crashed. It was probably the earliest I've gone to bed since I got here!

Today was lazy. I woke up at 10:30 and sat in bed with the girls until 1:30 when the brunch bell rang. We ate a quick brunch with the whole family, then Grant, Joel and I had to go to choir rehearsal. It was sooooo long. I thought Concordia rehearsals were long. This lasted 4 hours! But I found out we get to perform in the Grand Theatre! It's so pretty! That will be a great experience! Then we came home and ate dinner. That was my day. I didn't do any homework today so that's all I'll be doing tomorrow...but I guess that's what I get for having a great Friday and a lazy Saturday :)

Chose Bizarres

Yesterday I went to my Spanish/French Translation class. I am the only foreign student in the class and I sat alone. When the teacher came in she called everyone's names except mine. I then had to tell her in front of the whole class that I was from the United States and I would be attending her class. Talk about nerve racking! I thought the class would be in Spanish however I was mistaken. We talk mainly in french and directly translate the text right off the paper. Being the foreign student I figured I was safe from being called but since it's French, I have to watch her lips as well as listen to what she's saying, so I forgot the "don't make eye contact with the prof" rule. She called on me first. So I got the privilage to translate the first line. Granted it was the easiest line, it still made me nervous. But I did alright! After class the professor told me to tell her if I needed help with anything, and some girls next to me told me I could work with them next week. I had made it through class #1 by myself. My next class was in building Fromont, a 20 minute walk from Tanneurs. I walked though the market that was set up on the street for the day and got to my class about 30 minutes early. Hallie met me there and we talked for a while. Before class one of the students was writing 'Welcome' in every language on the board, we all ended up helping him and I was the only one that knew it in Spanish. Then my class started. My teacher was odd to say the least, and quite hard to understand. It's a creative writing class so she's having us do simulations and then write stories about the people. I chose the simulation about an appartment complex. We make the people and create stories about them. It took a long time since everyone was very opinionated...especially the Russian chick.

I had to leave that class early because my choir starts the same time that class ends and it's a 30 minutes walk. About halfway I met one of the girls that was in my choir and we walked and talked. She didn't seem concerned in the least that we were almost 20 minutes late. After choir I went up to my director and told him (in French!) That I had a conflict with my class and I would be late every day. He said that was just fine and not to worry.

At dinner I felt compelled to speak French since I had been speaking it all day anyway. It's really the first time I've spoken at the dinner table besides just little comments, or to ask someone to pass the bread. So it was a pretty big deal for me. I'm getting more and more confident.

Today I had my final Spanish class. Dr. Rawson wrote me beforehand and said that she thinks Choir could count into my 20 credits so I wouldn't need to take it, however I decided to try it anyway and I loved it. It's completely in Spanish and it's just keeping me updating on Spanish so I don't forget it. I'll take it probably if I have to or not.

After class I was just walking around town like I usually do and I started to notice the outfits of people walking on the street. I feel like French women are in a fashion contest every day. They all look beautiful all the time. High heels, dress pants, necklaces, scarves, hats, coats. It's pretty ridiculous. And kinda makes me jealous I don't look like that everyday. I also saw so many baggettes! People just walking around with a baggette in hand, no bag, just a napkin and a baggette. So French :) In France the pedestrian have the right-of-way. And not like the States, the French have the right-of-way regardless if they are on a crosswalk or not. It's incredible...but hard to get used to...I keep thinking one day I'm just going to get run over. And whoever said their is dog poop everywhere on the sidewalks wasn't lying. Watch your step! That's pretty hard for someone with no peripheral vision.... But I haven't done it yet!
One last random useless bit of information. It's 38 degrees here today and their fountains are still running. They don't turn them off. LOVE IT!

Miss you all and hope you are staying warm!!! À bientôt!

Les Châteaux

Friday was a LAZY day! None of us did anything all day. We spent most of the day in Hallie and Valeria's room, but we did play cards for a while which was different and fun. After dinner Mamie and I went out to meet some friends and went to this really cool place that had black lights. I had a white shirt on so I was glowing like crazy. It was really fun.

Saturday we all (minus Joel) woke up early to go to le Château d'Amboise. It is a castle just about 20 minutes from Tours that was mostly destroyed by Napoleon in the early 19th century. It was beautiful, and sort of up on a hill above the city. When we first got there we had to wait for it to open so we stood outside and took lots of silly pictures. Then at 2:00 we got to go in. It was the first real castle I had seen in Europe. And in my life! There was a little chapel that is also the burial place of Leonardo Da Vinci. It was a beautiful little place and I took way too many pictures of it. We met these girls from Argentina that we took some pictures for, and they also took some pictures of us, so we got some great group pictures with the château behind us! They better end up on the Concordia website ;)

Inside the château there were some great large rooms and lots of spiral staircases. I think I took over 200 pictures in all. It also had an amazing garden with trees and lots of large round bush balls...haha. The gardens were beautiful despite the fact that it was winter and half of what is normally alive wasn't, but I enjoyed it all the same. There was also one large room inside the castle that had a huge fire blazing so after we had gone through and looked at everything, we went back a second time to warm up. On the way there grant found a staircase in the garden that lead down to a random gate. He walked down and pushed on it. It swung open easily and he ran away thinking he wasn't supposed to be in there. Valeria and I were curious so we went down the stairs and through the gate. Grant and Hallie followed. We found that it was just a place for employees so, disappointed we went back up the stairs. On my way up I pulled on the gate to shut it behind us. We were half way up the stairs when it slammed loudly. Grant screamed and ran up the rest of the stairs like a little child. It was funniest thing and I couldn't stop laughing. After we warmed up by the fire we left to find some food before our train left. We found that a restaurants stop serving food after 3:00pm so we got some drinks then leisurely walked back.

Saturday night we went to a place that has free dancing right by our house. We spent a long time there and when we came out it was raining. So much for my hair. But it was too wet for any of us to care so we played in the rain for a long time. Mamie jumped in puddles and I sang singing in the rain and danced around the light post outside the cathedral. Then we walked home and all went to bed with wet hair.

The next morning we all woke up feeling like we were getting sick from playing in the rain but Jaqueline had a great brunch for us, which was something like poached eggs with this amazing cheese, and then pain au chocolat (warm bread with a chocolate center...mmm). We all felt much better after brunch. Then Aaron, Grant and I left for the Château Chenonceau at 1:00. It was just as rainy this weekend as it was for the girls the weekend before, so not much improvement but it was just beautiful! They were doing some renovation on it so it's not as cool as it would be if they didn't have a huge tarp thing over it, but it was still gorgeous. Chenonceau was made by and under rule of mostly women. It's built over the Loire river and has two great gardens, a labyrinth and a farm. Again I filled my camera, but it was a beautiful place. I can't compare the two Châteaux because they were so different. We had lots of time after we saw the castle till our train left for Tours. We wondered the town looking for some place to eat and ended up walking a long way to a gas station that wasn't even open. So we went back to the tabac (more or less like a 7/11) and got some snickers to hold us over till dinner. When we got home we were beat. But since none of us girls had class Monday we went out with some friends to a restaurant and got vin chaud (hot wine). It's actually really good despite how awful it sounds. It's a red wine with cinnamon and an orange that is hot. Almost like a cider. Soooo good.

Monday I met my friend Katie from Translation class to our Delhi's restaurant for lunch. Then I took her back to my house so she knows where it is and then we went to Fromont (the building where I take all my international French classes) We got the results of our test. There are 4 levels: A2, B1, B2 and C1. I'm in B1 which I think is about right. We chose our classes so I will now have French Language Oral, French Language Written, French Law (I'm guessing Court vocabulary), and Creative Writing. Plus my three classes at Tanneurs. After picking classes we went home for dinner. We ate early so we could go to Café des Langues at Le Palais. Where you go to speak any language you want. We spoke mainly French and English. One day I want to speak Spanish. But I guy there though he knew me and was totally convinced I was this girl he knew from England...then he found out I wasn't her and he was really embarrassed. It was quite funny but very uncomfortable. We left pretty early, which was good because I realized I hadn't done my homework that was due at 1:30 today. I got it done but it took me till 3:30. I won't be doing that again!

We woke up at 8 to leave by 9 to get to class by 9:30 today. Aaron, Mamie, Joel and I all have the Written and Oral French classes together and it was great today. Out teacher is the crazy hippy lady who is just really fun and relaxed. Easy to understand as well. She seems like she's be great for me this semester. After class we went to the campus cafeteria which cost 2.90 Euro for a huge tray of food. It was amazing. Then my second class was at 1:30 and I was falling asleep about 30 minutes into it. My professor talks so fast and I miss most of what she says but I didn't do too bad for being so tired. Immediately after class I went out to buy a notebook and a binder for all my classes...everything here is so expensive but it was worth it I think. I got a good one that will keep me organized. Then in the 32 degree weather I booked it home with my face in my scarf. I've been in bed ever since writing this blog and I'm sorry it's so long. I'll try not to miss so many important events next time.

I'm missing you all and hoping you are doing great! Bisous!

First classes

Tuesday was my first day of classes. Translation French<>English. I sat next to a blonde girl that told me she was really nervous. I asked her why and she said she was from Scotland and it was her first day. It made my whole day easier! I was nervous also because I could barely understand the prof or the people around me. But having her there we could work together to understand what everyone was saying. We translated two texts. One from English to French and the other from French to English, the second being a lot easier because English is my first language. About half way through the class the prof looked at Katie and I and asked us in French to explain the diffence between "little better" and "a little better". Katie didn't understand the question, but I did...so I waited for her to try to explain it and then I decided to try. I had to explain in French in front of 25 French students all looking straight at me. But I explained it right and my prof said I did great. But my cover as an American was blown. The class was hard but I enjoyed the work we did and I walked home feeling good about my first day.

The second day I showed up to class (Translation French<>Spanish) and the professor didn't show up. I needed a signiture so I spent the whole hour looking for someone who could help me figure out which class I was in. When I got that figured out I left Tanneurs, the building where all my classes are, and I wandered the streets of Tours for 3 hours. I was looking for a bookstore with a café that I could sit in and read somedays alone. I wandered all through Place Plumereau and down some beautiful streets that I never would have seen if I hadn't been wandering by myself. By 4:00 I was headed home when I saw one more bookstore, so I ducked in quickly just to see what it had. It happened to be the only bookstore I had seen all day with a café and it was perfect. Just what I wanted! I took the long way home and found a place that sold Tartines (french form of pizza) for 1 Euro 90 centimes. I walked all the way home with my warm food and was very content with my day. I walked in the door and immediately collapsed on my bed, exhausted. A good, but long day. I slept for an hour and then got up to go to choir. Choir was good but we worked hard and heard a lot of 'STOP' from out conductor. He really yells stop. And as far as I know...that's not a french word.

Today was the CUEFEE exam to place us in the correct international courses. It was a two hour test and I missed my class and the university because of it. It wasn't hard, but by the time I was writing my last essay I was sick of it so I didn't get the 200 words I was supposed to have. I got about 156 or something. Oh well.

After the test I went to meet my "French Buddy". A girl named Emeline that I was paired with at the university to help me get used to being in France. I met up with her at Tanneurs and we went to a café for hot chocolate. We sat outside in 40 degree weather (the patios are all still open) and drank our hot chocolate and talked for almost 2 hours completely in French!!! It was amazing and she was so easy to talk to and understand. We talked about everything and she said my French was very good for only studying it for 1 year. By the time I was headed home I was super happy... and very cold! But we had a great time and I am very blessed to have such a great French friend!

Cabin Fever!

The weekend was fun. Saturday was a very lazy, rainy day and none of us left the house. By about 6:00pm I was going crazy and needed to get out. Aaron needed to go to the bank and get more minutes for his cellphone so he decided to go with me. We went to a café called La Carré. It was nice to be out of the house and the town was pretty after the rain. We also went shopping for some snacks and we found that the French have made a brilliant creation. You know the little baskets at the grocery store that you can carry around? Well the French have made rolling baskets with an extendable handel that look somewhat like carry-on suitcases. To the left is a picture of Aaron posing with his basket. We also saw the most ridiculous thing in isle 4. Crustless bread. 'If you always find those little pieces of crust on your child's plate, save them the time and effort of having to remove it themselves! Buy Crustless Bread!' haha.

Sunday morning we woke up early to make pancakes for the family. Valeria got real creative and started making everyone's first initial in their pancakes. 22 in all. It took us most of the morning and we ate by 1:00 in the afternoon. By 3:00 we decided to wander around and find minutes for our go-phones. However in France everything is closed on Sunday. So instead we took lots of pictures and made a wish in the fountain by the huge library (below), but we had to be back early so Aaron could watch the Vikings game. Ha.

That night Mamie and I went out with some French friends that we made to a little café in La Place Plumereau. The cutest and most photographed part of Tours (below). One of the guys couldn't speak any English so it made us practice our French. They weren't afraid to correct anything we said wrong. I told Mamie it is probably painful to listen to us speak their language.

Then today was again another lazy day. We went to get our minutes for our phones and we went to a restaurant called the Deli where I got the best burger I think I've ever had. Then we came home and have been cooped up in this house for hours and I can't believe I'm saying this but...I can't WAIT till I start classes tomorrow. However mine are still not completely set. I'm going to try 3 different classes and see which one is the right level for me. But to not be stuck in this house with 6 other American students will be fantastic. We all love each other very much but we're ready to have some activity and get rid of this cabin fever!

I'm actually exhausted so I'm headed to bed. I have my first translation class tomorrow at 11:30. I'll let you know how it is! À tout à l'heure!

Le week-end

The Last weekend before school starts. Everyone went to the Château near Tours today except Aaron and I. Grant is in Rennes visiting some friends so he didn't go either, but today is rainy and cold, so I'm glad I chose to go another day. Instead I'm hoping to get some things done that I've wanted to finish for a while. I lost most of my music on iTunes before I left home so I've slowly been piecing my music playlists back together. It's taking a long time but I've almost got everything back. I'm also going to finalize my classes. I thought I was finished but we found out that we need 20 credits at the university here in Tours which equals out to 7-10 classes depending on the class. The difference here is each class only meets once or twice a week for only an hour and a half. Which makes it hard to reach 200 hours that we must meet in order for our classes to transfer back. I'll have 7 classes total by the time I get everything figured out. Which means 7 finals in May. Ouch.

We went out dancing for the first time on Thrusday night after a hard day of figuring out classes, which ended up being really fun, and we got to meet some nice French people and use our amazing French skills. I've just started to use my French more and more. Especially today at brunch when it was only Aaron and I. I had to use more than I've needed to since I got here. But it's amazing how much I'm beginning to understand. Until, of course, the times they speak directly to me and ask me a question...then I get nothing...haha. However sometimes I still surprise myself with how much I can recall or just guess from knowing Spanish.

I may try to find a coffee shop that I can go to and read today. It's a rainy day and it sounds pretty good to me. Better than being in the house all day. Thank you to all of you who have sent me messages letting me know you are reading my blog! I'm glad you can all feel like you are here with me! Until next time!

La vie en France

These past few days have been exciting and frustrating. We've been trying to get our classes figured out because so far we've been in France a week and we're not even registered for the university here. Our contact in Tours has not been in contact with us since about a week before we left the USA, but luckily I got some names before that and so far, besides Aaron, I'm the only one with my classes almost set up. The class here is very different from that in the US. All the courses start on different days and every international student gets a whole week to decided if they which course they like. So I could take 7 courses this week and decide on one at the end that I like the best, and continue with that one. So I'm trying 2. French>English/English>French translation with other Université de Tours students, or translation English>French with other international students. I think I'd like to try a class in the "main stream" non English speaking crowd for a while but I'll have to try out the courses. Then I'm also taking a Spanish>French translation course which I have a meeting about tomorrow with the professor. So I'm pretty much set up, and not too worried. Everyone else is a little on edge though, becuase they're not set up and classes start next week!

I started choir today. I didn't have to try out afterall, I think they really like having international students be a part of their choir. We're singing Verdi's Requiem - an hour and a half song. I really love it so far. It's not only students however, but I met some really nice girls from England (Wales and Liverpool) that I'm going to meet for coffee on Monday night at a café that you can speak any language at. People go that to speak different languages...just my kinda place!

So some interesting/random things I've noticed about French life that are different from the states are:
Fire hydrants- they look like something out of a space movie here!
Cars- they are sooo small here. And every street is a one way. Every single one.
Shopping- Everything is really expensive. How do people live here?
Children- Parents are so strict to their children here. We would think it was rude to treat children that way but here it is normal.
School- No homework. Only one big test that determines whether or not your were taking notes in the class the whole semester.
School- No one knows when or where classes are or begin. The prof decides most of the time, not the university.
Strangers- People don't smile at strangers. You are considered weird if you do.

Just some things I noticed so far! À bientôt!

Sierra

It's here!

Yesterday was a lazy day. I woke up around 1:30 and had Jaqueline's amazing brunch, but immediately went back to bed because I didn't feel well. I then slept till 5:00pm and woke up to Mamie asking if I wanted to go out shopping with everyone. So we went out and got some clothes and took some pictures of the town. That night we had dinner which was rabbit and potatoes. I'm glad I didn't know it was rabbit until after dinner...

We played some games downstairs after we ate and we decided that the next day we would get up early and go out to get our cellphones. Because I had slept all day I had trouble sleeping that night and I woke up multiple times, then finally decided to get up at 7am and watch a movie on my computer. I got half way through when I heard Valeria screaming my name and then I realized the doorbell was ringing. By the time I got my jeans on and got down the stairs Joel was already at the door, and the man outside was hauling in my suitcase!!! Joel took it upstairs for me and I dove into it making a mess of Mamie's and my room. I threw on some clean clothes, put on some makeup and ran downstairs to eat breakfast with everyone.

Then we were off to get our phones. We walked into "Orange", the phone store and within minutes we were all set up with new French phones. For the first 20 minutes after we got back to the house we all sat in Valeria's room setting up our ringtones, backgrounds, color scemes, and exploring the games and extra features. There were a lots of clicking keys and messaging sounds and barely any talking.

Now we are getting ready to go out again for lunch. The temperature has gone up a bit so it's not as cold and we can stay out longer. The January sales are great so I'll probably get some clothes now before everything is full Euro price again! À bientôt mes amis!!

Sierra

The streets of France

Today it is snowing in France. Though I thought I escaped winter, it followed us here. However I did escape the -50 degrees in Moorhead, Minnesota!! Haha yeah :)

Yesterday was the first day that all 7 Cobbers were together in France. We had a meeting with our university to discuss classes and get a tour of Tours, which was cold. Very cold. We all froze and it took hours after we got back to the house to thaw out, so we all went to the 3rd story where it's the warmest and spent the afternoon in Valeria and Hallie's room. That night after some amazing Ratatouille, we decided to hit the town. All 7 of us bundled up and went to a pub about 15 mintues from our house. We were only there for a few minutes before we went to another place downtown which was much more lively and full of French students our age. It was a great bonding experience for all of us, to get out and do something together.

This morning I woke up to Jacqueline, our host mother, coming into my room and saying something in French. I was too tired to understand and all Mamie, my roommate, said was "It's too early..." Then I realized that Jacqueline was saying 'valise' which means 'suitcase'. I jumped out of bed and ran town the death trap stairs to the front door. By the time I opened it there was no one there. So I went back to bed but I was too worried about it to sleep. What if I missed them? Would they destroy my suitcase? So instead I got up and called the airport and left a message. Then the doorbell rang again and I went running down the stairs in my socks a second time to the window to make sure the person at the door wasn't shady and wouldn't kidnapp me. I saw a delivery truck so I ran to the door and slid into the stairs in the process. I opened the door and it was a box for Joel...not my suitcase. So I politely signed for it then marched back upstairs and went back to bed for 3 hours.

At 12:30 our sleepy group got up for a brunch Jacqueline had prepared for us. We had croque-monsieur which is a ham sandwich with cheese and a pineapple on top. After that we helped clean the kitchen and we went upstairs to create a Facebook group for our study abroad experience in Tours, where we have all our funny quotes, pictures, and some other inside jokes.
And though it was snowing we decided to brave the cold and walk downtown to get some necessities and some food. The town was picturesque with the snow, the old streets, and French people speaking their beautiful language. We tried to get cellphones but the store was too busy to we opted for Monday instead. Which is also, hopefully, when my suitcase will come...so pray for that!

Things are great here. We're about to have dinner with the family so I'm going to take a quick nap before hand. Hugs and kisses everyone!

Sierra

First Day!

The first day was a whirl wind of airports, French wine, Paris, trains, and some crazy French stories.

We arrived 2 hours late to the Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris, France. Not that I'm complaining because it gave me that much longer to sleep after a crazy day of traveling, first to chicago with at 4 hour layover and then on to France. Of course I slept on my first flight against my will, so the second flight that I should have been sleeping on to help with the jet lag didn't work out as smoothly. 2 hours later I woke to a flight attendant setting my breakfast on my lab. Only an hour after that I was in the Paris airport, only to find that my luggage had not made it to France with me. I went to baggage services where they told me I would receive my bag in Tours on Saturday. So off I went into Paris with no clothes and only a backpack that held my labtop, a scarf, some travel books, and lucky for me...my pajama pants :)

The tickets from the airport to Tours were ridiculously overpriced so Aaron (another student studying abroad with me) and I decided to take our chances and head into Paris searching for better deals. We arrived at the trainstation and bought out tickets but we had two hours till our train left. So we decided to get some lunch. We stopped at this quaint little french looking restaurant and got Jambon et Fromage sandwiches and wine that was cheaper than the water. Afterwards we wandered around town for a bit and saw some amazing buildings and then back to the train station.

When we got there and our train was still not listed we began to get nervous. So we asked information and they told us that our train left from the station across town. We ran to the metro and anxiouly waited the 14 stops between us and our soon-departing train. When we arrived we ran with out backpacks flailing to our train, and watched it pull away as we ran up.

The next train left an hour later, so we decided to pull the sad American sap story that our plane was late and we missed our first train. Unfortunately this story worked for me...but not for Aaron. He was charged 20 Euro extra for being on the wrong train. Guess he doesn't know how to work the sad puppy face.

So we were on our way. We arrived in Tours at 7:00 after a very interesting and dillusional conversation with a very drunk French man that knew less English that I know Swahili and we took some time to get our bearings but we found the house alright. The family showed us around and we all had dinner together tonight. Aaron and I were the last to arrive from Concordia. There are 7 of us in all from Concordia and then one girl from Canada and another from Peru. The dinner conversation was amusing and was dominated mainly by the Dhommee's son Mathias who is 8. He's adorable and is pampered by all of us.

It is only 9:00 pm here but I am far beyond ready for bed. Tomorrow we go to the school to get our classes arranged and settled and Saturday I get my luggage back...hopefully.

It's been an adventure so far and I've loved every minute of it. It's so much easier, now that I'm here, to know this is really what I am supposed to be doing. Thanks for your support everyone! I miss you all so much!

Sierra

Packing

Hey everyone!
Today is the first day of packing...and honestly the first step towards going to France. Only 3 days left in the U.S. and my mind is finally in that direction after all the Christmas and New Years festivities, but I've got a long way to go. My room is a wreck with all the potential outfits that may soon be going in my suitcase and I'm trying to make sure I see, and say goodbye to everyone I won't be seeing for the next 5 months.

I will be writing next from Tours, France. Just an hour south of Paris by train. I do have wireless in the house I will be living at, so if you have Skype I would love to talk to any of you at some point or another. I don't get on often so it would most likely have to be an arranged meeting, but I would love to see you all from France! I will not be taking my cell phone, so please no calls or texts! Thank you! Also, if you want to become a follower of my blog I believe it sends you an email when I write a new post so you don't have to remember to check my page on your own. That may be helpful!

Well I hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New decade! I hope you all had a wonderful start to 2010! Stay in touch!

Sierra