After my first day of school last Thursday(Which only lasted 2 hours) we got a three day weekend with Friday off and I have to say it was a really great weekend.
I got to sleep in on Friday:09/03/10 and basically chill at home which was absolutely fine with me(It's still getting hard to adjust to sleeping). Then a little later into the afternoon my host family said they would take me to play "Pétanque!" Uhm what the hell is "Pétanque?!" Hahah for the people that aren't familiar with the game(which is probably mostly everyone reading) here's how the game works: There are two teams of 2 or 3 people. Each player gets three heavy metal balls. The objective of the game is to roll or throw the metal balls as close to a small brightly colored ball called "The Pig" and its not against the rules if a ball knocks another one from the area. Teams and players alternate and are given points(a maximum of 4 and a minimum of & each round) according to how close the ball is rolled to the "Pig." If these rules aren't clear enough for you click here.
So anyways we played at the field I practice soccer on and there was a TON of people. There was a bunch of adults, children, a lot of my soccer team mates and elders all came to watch and play in the huge Pétanque tournament. Within the first hour my host family showed me basically how to play and explained the rules to me and we had a few practice games. I really wasn't that bad for my first time playing... I was on a team with Dominique(host mom) and we versed Aurelie and Maurice(host dad). After warming up we signed up to play in the tournament. So Dominique and I had our first match in the tourney against two really good players. We got crushed hahah terribly. We played again against another really good team and got crushed again and played one more time and lost to two old drunk guys. We basically sucked badly. But I have to say though we didn't win it was a really fun evening that was filled with family, friends, socializing(which I didn't understand very much, but enjoyed), good food, drinks and entertainment really what more could you ask for? We arrived at about 4pm and ended up leaving at like 2am to see the finals(which were pretty intense because it was CRAZY to see how skilled they were.) But it was just really cool to see a different side of French culture that I didn't really know existed and I can't wait to play more Pétanque in the future. When we got home I crashed...
Saturday:09/04/10 I woke up at like 12:00pm and a few hours later Romain and his sister Tifen came over. Romain and I listened to music and played FIFA on the computer which was pretty fun. I had my first "alcoholic drink" here in France with my host family and Romain's family again(my host family doesn't want me to drink, but they let me in moderation) it was like a beer, but it was completely sweetened down with grenadine syrup so it didn't taste like alcohol at all...but it was good. Romain and I played soccer in the backyard for a while. Then they went home and we said our goodbyes. I met Maurice's mom(who actually lives across the street) she was very nice. From there I just chilled after being so tired from yesterday and finished up posting the pictures on the blog for you guys to enjoy. Later that day Dominique had told me we would go to her parent's house for lunch tomorrow that live 40 minutes away so I went to sleep...
We left the house Sunday morning at about 11 and drove to the grandparent's house. They lived in the farm part of France which I haven't seen a lot of. There were a bunch of cows and horses and open fields it was a completely different environment for me which was interesting. When we made it to the house or farm I think it should be called a farm house actually we were greeted by seriously like 20 of my host mom's relatives that included sisters, brothers, parents, cousins, nephews and nieces. It was really cool because though I felt awkward meeting the family they were all very nice and welcoming to me. We sat down to eat lunch and oh my gosh what a lunch it was. The lunch we had lasted seriously 2-3 hours at least and consisted of like 6 courses. It was prepared by Dominique's sister, "Fafie", and Dominique's mother(who are both very good cooks) First we had pistachios, a medley of snacks and a few drinks as a small appetizer then this potato salad stuffed into a tomato(yay tomatoes!) After the potato salad we had a very interesting looking second course served in a tiny dish. Dominique said I would have to try it first and guess what it was. I looked at it and smelled it and easily figured it out... It was escargot(snail!) Now I am one of the most picky eaters ever and ever since I got here in France I vowed I would try pretty much everything that is offered to me. So I took a bite and to my surprise it ended up tasting actually pretty good. It was just hard to eat because I couldn't believe what I was eating, but it seriously was not bad at all. It wasn't super hard to chew like calamari(like I was expecting) and it was marinated in a garlic butter sauce which made me think I was eating shrimp scampi. This definitely showed me no matter how weird a certain food is or looks it probably isn't that bad. So after escargot I felt ready for whatever they threw at me next and unfortunately I wasn't... They bring out a dish that looked very, very intriguing. It had an interesting odor and actually looked like mud with meat and bones sticking out of it. I take a small itty bitty piece and I unfortunately could not eat what was on my plate. They had told me it was RABBIT! It had a gamey taste and was served with egg noodles. I felt bad I didn't finish it, but they assured me it was okay. The funny thing was they made a small tray of roasted pork I could eat instead hahah. After the main course they had brought out two huge plates of frommage(cheese) and I tried at least seven different kinds(all of them had distinct smells, tastes and textures). Cheese was served with a small glass of very strong red wine. Every course was accompanied by some French bread. After the cheese we had dessert. My FAVORITE course. We had this delicious light custard topped with meringue, caramelized sugar and pralines. It looked odd, but it was so light and delicious and the perfect way to end the meal it was served with a dense cake and some champagne(don't worry I didn't get drunk hah) and then after that we had a chocolate mousse which was just as good as the custard. After our long meal I explored the farm with the Aurelie and the cousins we played foosball, walked through the fields and gardens, saw the cattle and the horses and just chilled out. It was a fun evening. We then had dinner at about 8pm(I was seriously still full from lunch) which consisted of Pate(this interesting pork mixture block that I honestly can't eat), green beans, cheese, more wine and leftover chocolate mousse and custard. After dinner we had tea and Grandma kept teaching me French. We sat at the dinner table said our goodbyes to everyone and headed home. I could not believe I had school the next day....
This would be my first real week of school and I have to say. I have to wake up at 6am every morning, eat breakfast, walk to the bus stop, which takes about 10 minutes, take a 45 minute bus ride to the school. It's hard enough trying to fit in a new school, but to try to do that with kids who you can barely keep a conversation with because you don't speak the same language is a completely different story. However I did make a friend in Liam(the guy who can speak English that I met on the first day of school)who is in my class and at school I'm hanging out with him and his friends Louis, Vincent, Damien, Victor and a few others from time to time. They're all pretty cool and I feel like by hanging out with them I'm actually learning more French(besides the times I talk to Liam in English.) It's really funny though because a lot of people in my class actually know my name and some of them I've never talked to and from time to time my classmates ask me questions about Alaska which is cool that they're putting an effort into talking to me. The school days here in France are very long(8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon) but we get 20 minute breaks between every two hours of class and an hour and 30 minutes for lunch. Oooh Lunch. The Cafeteria food is soooo good compared to the "food" they serve at school back in Juneau. Here in France you actually get a tray and you get to pick an appetizer and a dessert, or two desserts, or two appetizers, one dairy product, complimentary bread and a main course. I always get so full from the cafeteria food. Lunch is definitely my favorite part of the day hahah. In class I can't really do much because everything is in French of course so I'm either just writing notes anyways, drawing pictures, playing with my pens or sleeping ha.... My classes are Math(I'm bad enough at math in America so obviously there's still not much I can do anyways), Science(Very Boring..), Chemistry(Ha we did a lab and I couldn't understand the directions of it was kinda funny actually), French(The most difficult to understand), History(Boring), English(favorite class obviously the teacher says I can correct her), Spanish(I honestly don't know why the hell I got Spanish when I can't speak either but its actually a fun and entertaining class) and Physical Education(which is a one day a week class that lasts two hours its actually a good workout.) And like I said before every Wednesday we get out at 12 so I basically love those days ha. It's crazy that only one week of school felt like I've been going to school for like three weeks...it's gonna be a long year...
This week I had soccer and will have it every week. Practices usually on Tuesday with games every Sunday. We played a friendly match in a nearby town Wednesday and got beat again 3-1 I played the whole first half of the game without a sub, but I have to say it's really bugging me because I'm playing freakin' terrible here(probably the worst I've ever played in my life no joke...) and I just don't know why...but anyways this Sunday we have our first legit match for the club...can't say I'm looking forward to it hah...
So now onto last weekend! Saturday:9/11/10 I slept in(it was amazing) and I woke up sick... I was dumb and I decided to leave my window open and I guess it got too cold and in the morning I was sniffling like crazy, my throat was sore. Dominique tells me we are going to go shopping and I'm a little less than thrilled because I didn't feel like doing much. I went anyways. We had to get team shorts and team socks for me because of the upcoming soccer match so we drove to Anse(which is write next to my town) to get them. We ended up not being able to find the store that held them so we went on a crazy adventure which lasted up to three hours of walking, driving and talking to people on the street to find the location. We eventually found it and I got what I needed. After that we went to the supermarket. Spent about an hour there buying groceries and what not. My host family bought me tissues(which was helpful.) After that we went home put the groceries away. I took some medicine and we had cheese, bread and chocolate for a snack. Then we left the house again because Aurelie needed new shoes for her P.E. class so we went to this sporting good store in a town about 20 minutes away I forgot the name of. When we got her shoes we went to this series of stores which looked like an American Mall to me. We looked around and it had some clothing stores, a giant French looking version of Wal Mart, some restaurants and a lot of other things. We bought a few things that we didn't get at the grocery store earlier and we ended up eating dinner at an interesting restaurant called Flunch. It was actually really good! It's ironic because that day I was seriously craving a burger and though they didn't have a burger they had a hamburger steak which was honestly just fine with me. It was a buffet style restaurant and you could get unlimited amount of side dishes with your main course such as mashed potatoes, french fries, rice, vegetables, etc. For a fast food restaurant it was seriously very legit. It again made me think Fast Food in France makes most restaurants in the U.S. look terrible! I enjoyed my delicious hamburger steak with french fries, mashed potatoes covered in the most delicious gravy accompanied by a small crisp baguette and for dessert a raspberry chocolate ice cream cone. I didn't feel too well after the meal because all that food combined with being sick doesn't really sit well together, but in a way I was very satisfied because I fulfilled my cravings for beef and french fries which made the of walking through stores all day worth it... Naturally as soon as I got home I passed out ha.
Sunday:09/12/10 was one of the most interesting and exciting days I've had so far. I woke up(still sick) took more medicine and ate some breakfast. My host family had told me we would be going to a Medieval Festival and I thought to myself how interesting that would be. I brought some tissues changed and off we went. It was about a 50 minute drive. We passed Lyon(I love Lyon) and went to a city called Crémieu. The city was holding a festival to celebrate the medieval age of France. It was pretty freakin' awesome actually ha(though kinda nerdy at the same time haha.) There were a bunch of people wearing Medieval clothing and costumes and playing the part as if we were actually living in the time period. There were a bunch of stalls selling a bunch of things such as swords, toys, clothing, food, etc. There were a bunch of small skits and entertainment shows around every corner including sword fights, skits, a guy that walked a tight rope(it was CRAZY), dogs doing tricks, a guy that trained a bunch of birds to fly around, and a parade of all the costumed people at the end. We stayed there for about six hours! I took about a thousand pictures and videos which I'll post later and overall it was actually a pretty fun and cool experience and was easily the highlight of the weekend. Hahah so just when I thought the day was over it wasn't... We went back home to quickly switch cars and then drive up to the Grandparent's farm home to eat a late dinner with them and Dominique's sister. We got there at nine and had sausage and ham as an appetizer, then we had this veggie cheesy casserole which was actually quite delicious. For dessert we had chocolate ice cream and some tea. We talked for a long time and Grandma taught me even more French like last Sunday hahah. After dinner we left at 11:15pm we said goodbye to everyone and from there I fell straight onto my bed(I'm thinking this will happen every weekend.)
I woke up(still sick) at 6:00am to start another week of school. Which leads me today. Thank god it's going to be Thursday tomorrow! This week is moving a lot faster than the last one that's for sure. It's really getting hard keeping up with everything as it's happening! But anyways sorry I haven't wrote in a while this was meant to be posted last week along with a bunch of pictures and stuff, but that obviously didn't end up happening sorry... But whatever I'll post pics of the last two weekends which includes Pétanque, Sunday Lunch with the Family, the Grandparent's barn, Shopping from this past weekend and of course the Medieval Festival for you guys to view thanks for reading.
(I never realized it was 9/11 this past Saturday so I dedicate this blog post to everyone who passed away on that tragic day and to those who lost love ones may they rest in peace and God bless America.)
