Leaving so soon!!

So here I am just 2 days before I leave France to meet up with Trish and I have NEVER been so conflicted. I am SO EXCITED to see my family and friends in the US. After an academic year abroad, I know that it's been too long since I've been able to spend time with everyone and it'll be a relief to just be in the US for a while. But on the other end of it, I absolutely cannot imagine saying good bye to the people here and Rennes. I have a life here as weird as that sounds and I can't imagine not speaking French every day. I feel linguistically, emotionally, culturally and  gastronomically unprepared to leave France!

These past few days have been all about preparation though. I had the majority of my exams last week with one left for tomorrow. Thursday we had a big party for all of the host families, students and a few previous students. I gave a little speech about how much of a family we've become and how much I love my host family, but I hadn't told them beforehand so they were completely unprepared. My host mom came up to me after, crying and kissing me telling me how much she loves me. I turned around and another friend was crying. Then there was a photo montage and we all felt it. It was an overwhelming feeling of unity between all of us.
Afterwards we all went out to the bar and hung out just chatting about the semester, trying not to think about this week.

Friday I had my 2 exams, then I came home just to prepare to go out again. We had a party for all of the international students at the university at a dance club which was crazy. We had a really great time and it was so good to see everyone in the same place.

We decided to leave around 3:30 so my friends and I took a cab. I didn't get to sleep until close to 4:30, and I didn't get up Saturday until 11:30. My friend Denise who I studied with in Morocco last semester and is studying in Paris this semester came to visit me and see Rennes so we went to all of the places that my friends and i always go to like Haricot Rouge for the BEST hot chocolate that i've ever had, a walk along the canal here in St Gregoire, sitting in Thabor (a garden in Rennes) and a cider at O'Connell's! We walked all over the place and had so much fun! My host parents had a couple friends over for a barbeque which was awesome and we had a great time until my host dad drove us to the train station. But luckily Denise is from NY so i should be able to see her again this summer.

Since then I've been slowly packing my stuff and trying to get myself ready for Thursday. I said good bye to Stacy, the assistant program director today which almost made me cry. I have just one more exam tomorrow afternoon and I'm done! Tonight is the birthday of 2 of the girls on the trip so naturally we're all going out, but before that I'm making my host mom (host dad is going to his sister's) breakfast for dinner. So my friend had found a place that sold bagels!! I mean they're obviously not from A&B Bagel or Bagel Market, but they get the job done! So i'm making a ham egg and cheese sandwich with pancakes... not sure if it's gonna be banana or apple cinnamon. It's gonna be great! I'm so excited.

Il faut profiter

So there we were on the Corsica ferry that was trying to pretend to be a fancy cruise ship. We ended up doing what a ton of others did which is camp out in the lounge and sleep on a couch. we were pretty pathetic the next morning as we got in at 7:30am but that first view of corsica was..... incredible. we couldn't be cranky! so we got off the boat and found the bus right away. our hotel wasn't in the middle of town, so we took a fairly long bus ride. But we didn't know where the stop was so we got off and had to walk for like 40 minutes in the rain. But we made it. we had to wait for a while but the hotel put us in a room until ours was ready.

The hotel was absolutely gorgeous and the room was huge! we had a terrace, kitchen, table, living room and big bedroom. Oh and each night we fell asleep to the sound of the ocean because it was right across the street and our terrace looked out to the mountains and ocean and oh man. The next few days are kind of a blur because we just took it easy. I read both The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest along with Persuasion and half of sense and sensibility. We walked around and explored a bit, went to the beach and hung out by the pool. We didn't have the best weather every day which is probably a good thing as we fried in Nice and were still trying to recuperate from that.

So after 4 nights in paradise, we took a bus, then a train through the mountains to Bastia. I have NEVER had such an interesting bus ride. Ok I take that back as Morocco was pretty interesting, but I was surprised this time because I definitely did not expect it from Corsica. It reminded me a lot of the windy and narrow roads of Morocco. It was crazy. But we made it safely to Bastia and got on another boat to land in Italy!!!

We got off the boat in Livorno and jumped on a bus as the bus driver was an incredibly friendly guy who got us to a stop for a different bus to get to the train station. Revelation: I LOVE ITALIANS! It was shocking how different the feeling was in Italy than in France. In France it's not that people aren't nice, but they aren't openly friendly with strangers (although I'm finding that less and less true the longer I'm here) and they don't go out of their way for a stranger. But in Italy we had no idea where we were and how to get to the next bus stop so we stopped to ask a guy, but he didn't understand us so this random guy taps his wife (who was on the phone) saying that we need help and she spoke French and English. So she's got her phone on the side of her face as she's trying to explain to us how to get to the train station. She was so nice! So we made it to the train station, then on to Pisa!

Our hostel in Pisa ended up being a couple rooms in this guys house but it wasn't too bad and it was in a good location. Pisa was cute but I think the best part of Pisa aside from the tower is how inexpensive the AWESOME food was. We took it easy the first night as we were pooped from all the travel. I mean bus, train, ferry, bus, train... it was a little much. So we woke up the next morning and saw the tower which is pretty cool. We walked there and let me tell you, it's not very tall so you can't actually see it until it's right in front of you. it was pretty cool though. So we walked around, then made it to the train station and jumped on the next one leaving Pisa.... On to Florence!

Florence is breath taking. We had lunch, then went to see the Dome! We walked around, got gelato, then got in line to see the David. We got in, then took a quick look around before turning the corner and BAM. there he was. naked. The statue's HUGE and a little overwhelming so we sat down for a little bit.

After that we walked around the rest of the museum, then we went to Dante's house on our way to Porto Vecchio. We walked back towards the train station, had a coffee, then went back to Pisa for dinner and our last night in Italy. Only complaint about Florence is the overwhelming amount of tourists and constant crowds.
Kathryn left first, then Liza and I went back to the tower and walked around until we had to leave for Beauvais, then Paris, then the train back to Rennes! On our way to Paris we made friends with this guy from London, studying at an Australian university in Florence then parted ways when we had to catch our train. Liza's host mom met us at the train station in Rennes and that was it! Our vacation adventure was over!

The final countdown part 1

So here I am looking ahead to only 2 weeks left of this madness that is study abroad. But before I can look ahead, I've got a lot of catching up to do. I know I know I've been bad about this whole blog thing this semester. So here is the past month....
Exactly one month ago I had no idea how I was going to make it until the end of the semester. Classes sucked, I was fighting with Jason (always a bad sign) and everything seemed to remind me of home and the fact that I wasn't there. It's been gorgeous out, but that most certainly did not help my productivity. At this point I realized that no matter how much I like traveling (or rather being in new places as actually traveling stresses me out), I am not at all happy without my friends and family. And Jason. It may sound cliche and stupid, but he makes it incredibly difficult to be here and not there.
So now I have ruled out a few career paths.
1.) Peace corps. It's never gonna happen. After the village in Morocco and after not even a full year abroad all signs point to me hating it.
2.) Any job that requires me to live too far from family. I start to hate myself for not being able to be there for them. Maybe I'm not selfish enough (never thought I'd say that) but when I miss things or can't help out with family issues I get angry, then sad, then disappointed, then mad at Jason for one reason or another, then sad again. No bueno
So after these reflections and 2 weeks of classes, we had a 2 week vacation for Easter. My host mom went to Montreal to visit their son who lives there so she, host dad and host sister went to Paris on Friday evening. I had the house completely to myself for Friday and Saturday so I naturally had a couple friends over and did what I always do... I baked. Friday I cooked rice and beans and Katy made lemon bars. Then Saturday I spent the entire day reading and sitting out in the sun. My older host sister surprised me by showing up and told me that we were going to have a bbq on sunday so I was only kind of surprised when Marine and Michel (my host dad and sister) showed up at 2am from Paris on Saturday night. But before they came back, I had done a TON of baking and made more lemon bars, carrot cake and chocolate chip cookies. Sunday I went to church with Ashley, which was great, then came back, hung out and had a nice lunch with the host fam. It was me, Marine, Michel, Annaise and her wife Charlotte. The bbq was not your every day bbq. Maybe it's just me, but I don't normally drink champagne at a bbq and I don't think I've ever had eggplant from a grill... it  was awesome! After we just sat out, then the girls ended up starting a water fight. This is gonna sound  really weird, but I was actually really happy when Annaise threw water at me. I know that they aren't over the moon about having a foreign student in the house, but it was like a sign of inclusion. I thought it was even better because just after she threw it, before she saw the look on my face (which I was already laughing as soon as I saw it coming) she said "laugh, laugh," as though she had no idea how I was going to react to it. She took a chance by including me, the risk that i'd be pissed that she dumped freezing cold water at me. I was actually impressed. But then again I could be over analyzing it.
In any case, I went to my friend's house and hung out with her for a little while until it was around dinner time. I came home and prepared for a VERY early Monday morning.
5:30am. That's when I got up, threw my clothes on, ate breakfast, ready to leave the house by 6. The train left at 7am, and Kathryn, Liza and I were happily settled by the time we pulled out of Rennes. A train switch and 8 1/2 hours later, we were safely in Nice and it took us another hour of walking to find the hotel but we were finally there. Kyriakos, a friend of my friend Meri who is studying in Montpelier, met us there and the first night we just got some pizza and hung out. The next day we set off for Monaco.
Monaco, just a 1 euro hour long bus ride, is absolutely gorgeous! The gardens, the flowers and the fountains! There were statues everywhere, the water was the bluest blue and the Monte Carlo Casino was magnifique! After exploring the outside of the casino we went to the beach and Kyriakos and I went for a swim, me in my dress, him in his boxers. Liza got her hair wet, and Kathryn put her feet in as she had quite a few blisters already. We waited until we were almost all dry again before hiking back up to the bus stop and got back to Nice. Just in time to get paninis from our now favorite place from the nicest guy.
Day 3 we woke up pretty early and declared it beach day. We were on the beach from 9am til about 4 when some nasty clouds showed up. By this time though the damage had already been done. Kathryn and I were pretty red. I'm still peeling. lol. But the sun pretty much drained us so we hung out in the room, then Liza Kyriakos and I walked around Nice for a while before going to bed.
Day 4 we got up early again and did some hiking in the old destroyed chateau, went to the market then checked out of the hotel. We left our baggage there so that we could wander around for a few hours, but we didn't want to wander too far. Liza and Kyriakos went and took some pictures while Kathryn and I sat in a park and read. I wish I had recorded it, but there were these 2 guys in the grass trying to teach each other break dancing tricks. It was freakin hilarious. When the other 2 got back, we went to a cafe and hung out until Kyriakos had to go get his train. We took our time getting our stuff, then we too left for the train station. We got to Toulon fine, found the port with only a few bumps in the road, and saw the boat right away. We had no issues with tickets and got on with time to spare. Liza decided to get a room as it was an overnight ride, but Kathryn and I didn't so we decided to venture through the boat to find a place to sleep for the night... and to be continued! I'll finish the story tomorrow!

Il va faire du soleil!

It's been sooooo nice out! This past week has been absolutely gorgeous, which of course makes me want to be outside ALL THE TIME! and the best thing to do outside? Run.

ok maybe I can think of a few other things i like to do outside better like sit and read a book, but the best thing for me to do is run. I've been running quite a bit lately and made it through a 10k stopping only once to stretch out a little. It's fantastic! i feel so much better having run. although changing my eating habits is ridiculously hopeless here (i'm sorry i'm just not going to stop eating the butter, desserts or caramels), running has made me feel so much healthier! It's funny because now that i've been running, the fat that i have on my body which i didn't notice too much before has started to hang off like it knows it's not supposed to be there and is waiting for me to work it off. Already my legs feel stronger and I'm tan (er) now because i'm outside all the time.It's fabulous.

What's not so fabulous is the amount of sh*t I have to do that I have no motivation for. I have to finish 2 applications for grant money, one of which is due next friday, and I have a skype interview on monday for an internship at the women's rape crisis center in burlington. There's the apartment situation and i'm still looking for jobs for the summer just in case.

In addition to that Thursday night, Friday night and tonight were Jeremy's play performances... and I'm so jealous of all of you who got to go! In case you were unaware, he was in the Sound of Music and played Rolf. So essentially he got to sing my favorite part of the whole movie/play and I don't get to see it!!! Apparently he's been singing in the shower and had trouble taking off his eye make up. While they're such small things, it kills me that I couldn't be there because I would have LOVED to hear him sing in the shower and I have eye make up remover that I should have been there to help him with. I told Trish that it's her job to work on the teleportation thing because if I could have been home just for the weekend I would have loved to. I hate it because I sound so spoiled and ridiculously ungrateful, but I can't help it; I would have loved to be home for this. What killed me the most was when Tricia told me she was sorry that I couldn't be there, I told her not to be because after all, I chose this. I chose to be out of the country for an academic year. I chose to miss birthdays and plays and apartment purchases. And while I've had the ride of my life traveling and seeing such different places and meeting the most interesting people, it's hard not to look at home and at school and see what I'm missing.

Luckily, now my classes are all scheduled so I have a French women's autobiography class, french lit from 1500-1800, World food population and democracy, international political economy and my global studies senior sem. I think I'm going to have a rough but good first semester for senior year. It's still so weird to think of it as that. Senior year... jeez. when did that happen? i guess that same time that Tricia's in graduate school, Jason's working towards his Ph.D and Jeremy's going into high school next year. When did we become so frickin old?? But as I explained to Jason the other day, we're still not old. I still feel like we're babies! I mean, not the same babies as when he and I first started dating I guess... when I was 16 and he was 18. so I guess that makes us toddlers? Finally starting to walk/live on our own but with some (major) help from our families. But that's another thing... it's always funny when people ask me how long Jason and I have been together because they're always so shocked when I say about 4 years. Except that the other day I was talking to my friend about the summer and everything and she was telling me that she's going home on July 4th. So I said that that was a day before our anniversary. When she asked me which one, it took me a minute. Then I realized that it's already been almost 5 years. 5 years! How did that happen and where did this year go? I guess the best way to answer that is to read my blog. Seriously though, I am baffled by how quickly everything's gone by. When did it become April (that's a rhetorical question btw)?

Paris, Je t'aime

Soo this past weekend I made my way to Paris to meet with my friend Lisa, who is studying in Madrid, and see my friend Mollie who is studying in Paris. I took the train just a couple hours after my last class on Friday and I was on my way! I found my friend Mollie, saw where she's living and met Lisa at Port Maillot. We walked around Sacre Coeur for a while, then called it a night. Mollie had to leave for a trip to the Loire Valley at 7:15 so I was up bright and early with about 2 hours to kill before Lisa was gtting up. So naturally I started walking.. It was the logical thing to do... So I walked from the most southern point in Paris up to Sacre Coeur... It took me about 2 hours partly because I gave my map to some guy who was really lost along the way... so i took a few detours. If I hadn't taken detours, it still should have taken me about an hour and 40 minutes according to Google maps. At any rate, by the time I was sitting at Sacre Coeur with a pastry and baguette, it was only 9:30... So I met Lisa and we walked down to Centre Pompidou and Notre Dame. I think that I am actually in love with the Shakespeare bookstore because we went and just sat and read for a while. That was the first time I actually seriously thought about someday living in Paris for a little bit simply to have access to this little store across from Notre Dame. After a little reading, we went to a cafe, then to the Louvre. We sat by les Jardins Tuileries until I decided to call my hostel to find out when i was supposed to check in. Good thing I did because I was supposed to be there at noon and it was now around 5... oops! Luckily we got up there and no harm done... I checked in and then we made dinner (I made galettes! which are like wheat crepes with ham and cheese and a TON of butter). Then we headed to the Eiffel Tower. By this time it was pretty late so I wasn't sure if we'd be able to get up, but we took the elevator and went up to the 2nd platform just in time to see it light up at 11pm. It was magical. After almost an hour we took the last elevator down and walked to place de la concord so that Lisa could see the bridge that's in the movie Anastasia. We crashed at about 1:30/2am... Then I was up at 8:45 so I could check out by 9, and hung out at Sacre Coeur. Lisa met me there and we went to mass which was so nice! We ended the trip with lunch at a kebab place, a trip to Moulin Rouge and a quick cafe before Lisa got on the bus to catch her flight back to Madrid. I took the metro and changed my train ticket so that I could get back to Rennes by 7 because I was sooooo tired by then. My host mom picked me up from the train station and told me all about her weekend and asked me all about mine. While I like Paris a lot, I think I like Rennes better. Everything is SO expensive in Paris and I was always on the move. I feel like Rennes is just a little more laid back... and I missed my host family. and the dog =)

Sometimes you just gotta live your life

So today is my free day. Every Tuesday I don't have classes, so usually I come up with something to do whether it be making plans with friends, sleeping in, running, reading a book, etc. There's always some little errand or some kind of homework that could use doing so I find things (besides sitting in my room all day) to occupy my day. Today was no exception. Actually, before I get into this I should preface this with an explanation of sorts. Lately we've all been feeling a little down. We're more than half way through the program with less than 2 months left and most of us are starting to feel it. I didn't even realize why I was in such a funk until my friend Miranda asked me the other day "Aren't you just getting tired of being abroad?" Which I answered with an "Yes. Absolutely." I don't mean to be a baby or ungrateful. I am the luckiest little shit alive to be able to study where I've studied, met the people I've met and simply been all of the places I've been in the last 2 semesters. and my adventures aren't even over! but it definitely comes with a price. Studying abroad for a year sounds like such a good idea when you're planning it at your university when in all actuality it is really rough. No income for an entire year, getting funny looks everywhere you go for speaking english and feeling exhausted after an entire day of speaking french/attempting arabic. Not to mention living in someone else's house, no matter how nice they are and how close I may be with my family, at the end of the day it's not my house. We've all hit a wall I think where we miss controlling when and what we eat, doing our own laundry and how long our showers are.

So bearing that in mind, today Liza and I got lunch, when I realized that I had left my wallet with my lunch tickets sitting on my desk at home, which just happens to be about 40minutes away... so liza lent me one which was fine. Then we went to a tabac (a drugstore type deal) and bought her minutes for her phone and proceeded to go to the train station to pick up our tickets. This is round 2 btw because the first time I forgot the confirmation numbers. This time, we waited in line, just to find out that I needed my credit card to get the tickets, which was in my wallet. at home. I think it was a combination of things because we felt so defeated in that moment that Liza first suggested we get a glass of wine. It wasn't even 12:30 in the afternoon. lol. But as we got onto the metro we both agreed that tea felt like such a better idea than wine...

So we went to what has become one of our favorite places, Haricot Rouge. This place has it all. They have the most incredible hot chocolate, teas and coffees, along with literal milk shakes. and all of which come with a little bite of brownie... SO GOOD!! But today we not only got tea, but we got 5 cookies to share. I think we looked pretty pathetic too because we usually get like one little brownie with our tea, but the woman put like 3 of them on each of ours... but we ate it all. We sat there for 3 hours just talking about life and how we've gotten to this point. We watched people come and go as we sat there slowly drinking our tea and eating cookie after cookie just talking about boyfriends and high school, family and college and what comes next. We joked that we were having our quarter life crisis and that this is the time to have it. One of the things that really stuck with me was a story Liza told me while we were both stressing out. Apparently she had this friend who never finished what she started. she never finished college, and would start a diet just to say forget it later the same day. One day Liza was eating a burger and her friend asked her for a piece which confused Liza because her friend had said just that day that she was giving up eatin red meat. To which this girl responded "Sometimes you just gotta live your life, you know?" It's so simple but just struck me as so extraordinary. Liza said she was just blown away by it and it's stuck with her for year now. It really seems like such an obvious thing but I think it's interesting how hard it hit me.
Anyway, by the time our teapots were completely cold, we were starting to feel a little less overwhelmed, so we started making a grocery list for our vacation foods. We decided to continue by going to the grocery store and looking at foods as this is one thing that we have complete control over. So we walked around the grocery store and then galerie lafayette which is somewhat like macy's just talking and window shopping. Liza was still hungry so we went to a kebab place, then we went back to my house to get my wallet. Tomorrow is my host mom's birthday so I wanted to make her something. I decided on rice crispy treats with chocolate chips, so we went back to a different grocery store in st gregoire (closer to my house). The grocery store is HUGE btw... A lot like a super walmart or something... it has anything you could ever want to buy! After we found what I needed and explored a little, Liza went home and I went back to my house.

My host parents went to dinner with friends for the night so I invited ashley over and made dinner and the rice crispy treats while catching up as we hadn't hung out for over a week. anywhere else that would be really weird to say, but those of us who are here or who had been in morocco can attest to it; when you see the same people every day for weeks and weeks, then go a couple days without seeing them it feels like a lifetime. Oh the beauty of study abroad!

Making up for lost time

So recently I realized just how little inspiration I've had to write this semester. I mean, I'm half way through and I still cannot seem to get a routine down so that I post all the time and my logic is this... you ready?

Blogging to me is like running. As I'm sure Jason or any of my friends will tell you, I love running. I love the way i feel after I run, I love being active and I even love being sore the next day because how sore I am is a good judgment of how hard I pushed myself and I LOVE pushing myself to my limits. However, I haven't been able to get a routine down for that either since high school ended because I always seem to find reasons not to or that make running inconvenient. And the longer it's been since I last ran, the more of a reason not to run again because it's been so long and I forget how I feel after. But I've been running more regularly lately, which might be why I feel like I should catch up on my blog. So I won't waste any more time on this analogy =)

So in the past month, more has happened than I could possibly write in one post, so I'll just sum it up. For our winter break that lasted a week, I went back to Morocco and took along some of my friends. As usual for me, plans got really messed up, my friend wasn't going to be getting into Paris until 9:30 with no way of getting to Beauvais at the hotel only she had access to while the other 4 of us tried to figure out what to do. My solution? I went into the grocery store right next store to the bus station and came out with only one item which I then put on the table in between 3 very stressed out girls. It is not physically possible to be stressed out when reminded that here we can buy a good bottle of wine for 2 euro. Immediately the other girls relaxed, we made a plan, bought dinner at the grocery store, drank 2 bottles of wine from a nalgene on the bus on the way to Beauvais and decided to spend the night at the airport. Bad idea in theory and in practice as the airport closes at 11:30pm. So we took a cab to the hotel we had booked, but the front desk was open. Luckily, we found a hotel that had a machine that let's you buy a room and we all squished onto a full sized bed for a few hours, before getting up to catch the latest bus to very narrowly make our flight. Funny enough, I made it through security with a razor, hand sanitizer and shampoo, but my friend got stopped for her adapter. Isn't airport security fabulous?

But who cares because we made it on the plane and got to Fes!!! When we got there, 2 of my friends were looking to me for direction and help, but as I had only been there once on a bus with my program (which I had mentioned to them several times) I turned to them and was like "So where do you want to go?" It may have scared them a bit... but needless to say we got lost, which is not uncommon in Fes as it's such a HUGE city. But we found a wicked cheap hotel eventually after going to what was probably the most expensive hotel there and asking for directions. We had a nice time in Fes, but I have to say I was soooo relieved when we left. When we got off the train in Rabat I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I felt like I was home again and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

We stayed one night in the Hotel Majestic, which was where I had my orientation the first week I was in Morocco. We showered, then went to the medina. I got to see almost everyone I had been missing. Youssef, Nabil, Fatiha, but most importantly, I got to see my host family and spend some time with them. The coolest thing, I think, was that I was actually there the last day of my host mom's mourning period for her late husband. I didn't even know it until the next day when she wasn't wearing white anymore and I asked Chaimaa what was going on.

I took my friends to the kasbah, we walked along where I used to go running right by the coast, we ate chocolate covered almond balls, rif, tajine, couscous and drink tea while eating pastries with my family. I don't think I can even begin to describe how happy, content, overjoyed, and overwhelmed I was to be with them again, in the same place I had lived for so long. It meant so much to me to show my friends where i'd lived, what I'd done and give them a little look at what my life was like. I know my friend ashley thought it was the coolest thing that she got to meet and eat dinner with some actual moroccans rather than just being a tourist.

While it was incredible, good byes were inevitable and always seem to come too soon. I felt my heart being ripped out of my chest as I hugged Chaimaa, Ahmed, Hamza and finally Tara, my host mom. She and I were in hysterics as we said good bye and as she told me to come back any time... to come back soon. I had to run down the stairs to force myself to leave, with ashley trying to catch up as she said quick thank yous and goodbyes. I took a moment at the bottom of the stairs, still kind of hidden from the street, to just cry for a few moments. I was blown away by the fact that there I was, again, having to say good bye to people I love and care about, who took care of my for months and let me into their lives. Except this time, there was no promise of coming back. I have no idea when I'll see them again. All I know is that I will. I will get there again someday because they are now my family as well.

The next morning, after randomly bumping into a moroccan friend at an internet cafe, I got onto the train to the airport. Off to Spain!

I got to Spain and as soon as I landed, I called my friend Lisa. I haven't taken Spanish since 7th grade and everyone seemed to be saying things with a lisp which I later learned is unique to Madrid (at least I think it is...) Lisa and I had an excellent night finding my hostel, figuring out how to get me to the airport for my insanely early 6:30 flight to beauvais and eating these little sandwich things which were delicious while drinking a combination of wine and lemonade and talking about life in general. We went to a bar and had a drink (which was the coolest thing ever! the bar we went to was cave-themed and the drink we had was directly translated to panther's milk which came from a thing in the ceiling), then walked around until it was time for me to get back to the hostel. By the time I got back, it was 2am. I made my bed, got into my clothes for the next morning, got all of my stuff packed, set my alarm and slept for 2 1/2 hours. At 4:30 I stripped my bed, brought my sheets downstairs, asked for directions, then walked 20min to get to the bus which then took another half hour to get to the airport. I got through security just in time to get in line for my flight, then before i knew it, I was back in France!

At this point, I had to take 2 buses and a train to get to Charles de Gaulle as Jason had landed there an hour before I had even landed in Beauvais. Luckily, he spotted me running around trying to find him! We took the RER into Paris and found the hotel. The rest of the weekend is kind of a blur of sites... we went to the Arc de Triomphe, walked along the Champs Elysee and saw Notre Dame at night and during the day. We had coffee in a cafe and people watched. We went to the Louvre, then walked to Place de la Concorde. We walked up the Eiffel Tower, went to Shakespeare's first bookstore in Paris (my favorite bookstore of all time), had a crepe next to Notre Dame and met up with Ashley and Katy who had stayed an extra day in rabat. We set out for rennes early monday morning so that I could make it to my class. It ended up being somewhat of a mess and he waited for 2 hours by a bus stop, then there was some confusion about the hotel room.... but in the end, it all worked out. We spent an awesome day at Mont St Michel, he got to meet and go out with my friends, we had an excellent and incredibly entertaining dinner with my host parents while I played translator and he loved Rennes more than Paris and St Gregoire more than Rennes!

After Jason left, I got sick. I think it may have been the constant adrenaline rush, but my host mom is sure that it's because I didn't wear a scarf to mont st michel. either way, I had an awful cough and woke up several mornings drenched in sweat from a fever the night before. My host mom told me what medicine to get and I was shocked that it cost me 3 euro to get better. I couldn't believe medicine was so inexpensive! Within a couple days I was feeling much better, only for my health to nosedive as it was Ashley's 21st birthday AND St Patrick's Day... We had a crazy night that suffice it to say kept me in bed until noon the next morning, at which point I got out of bed and saw that I had 5 missed calls, 3 new text messages (one of which asking if I was alive) and a green shamrock on my face while still in my dress from the night before. We're calling it a success because we don't really know what else to call it!
since then I've had no interest in going out.

My friends and I are planning our second break (we have 2 weeks!) which we'll be spending in Nice for a few days, then taking an overnight ferry to Corsica. We'll spend 4 nights at a hotel in Corsica where we have a kitchen, a terrace and plenty of beach. I told my friends... my sole goal for this vacation is to spend as much time as possible on the beach with a couple Jane Austen novels, a trashy magazine or two and a bottle of wine. After Corsica, we have 2 nights in Pisa before we fly out of Pisa into Beauvais, then take the train from Paris to Rennes. It's a 10 day trip which should be incredible!

Lately I've been trying to figure out what to do with my summer and my goal right now is to apply to do research on organizations for male abusers, kind of picking up where my independent study in Morocco left off. My adviser gave me a name of a potential sponsor and the next step is to see if he has time this summer, then to write up an outline and abstract... all by April 8th! wish me luck! if this works out, I'll be in VT for the summer living off a $1500 stipend. If not, I have several back up plans, all except the very last consisting of staying in VT, starting a job and volunteer work that I can continue next year.

Alright and now that I've written a novel, I will once again try to get into the routine of writing... Like I said, I enjoy writing and I always feel good after I've done it. It's just so hard to motivate!

So I've been neglecting my blog...

Ok last semester I blogged every day all the time. So it's a little bizarre that I'm not doing the same thing now i guess, but I don't feel like i have enough to write about every day. Maybe I'll start making myself though because if I don't do it every day, I actually forget that I have a blog!

So since the last time I wrote a lot has gone down here. I had tested into a lower level class for all of my classes, so I fought to switch it. Luckily my program director is AWESOME and did it for me, despite the fact that my prof didn't want me to switch (they don't seem to like changing people's levels because the whole schedule has to change). So now I have better, more challenging classes with a different group of friends. It's soooo much better! I have a definite set schedule now, which is incredible (not too many early mornings or really long days!) but I don't feel like I'm involved enough. I might try to join a club or get involved at the franco-american institute. Which, btw, has a really nice library with books in english. funny enough i found myself most attracted to the children's section. They have Roald Dahl, the Eragon series, Harry Potter and Grimm's Fairytales, not to mention the books for really young kids. I loved it! I guess my inner child has been showing herself lately. I've been coloring in my oodles of doodles coloring book (thanks to Megan!) and I chose to watch Beauty and the Beast in French for my cinema class. I'm so excited!
Also, if you haven't seen my facebook, I got my hair cut here. It was really fun! My host mom drove me to the hairdresser (which apparently she used to cut hair) and they played with my hair while discussing how to cut it the way I wanted it. It's pretty different now but I like it a lot!

The weekend after that I went to St Malo and Mont St Michel, which was pretty incredible as well. We left wicked early for St Malo and just wandered around for a while. The weather here is pretty spectacular compared to Vermont/New Jersey right now. We're hitting balmy 40s and 50s while you guys are getting hit with piles and piles of snow... You're jealous, admit it. haha although I have to say I kind of do miss the snow. Not the cold, just the snow. If only they came separately! But anyway, it wasn't THAT warm, but St Malo is right on the ocean so I, of course, really wanted to walk on the beach. So I took off my heels and walked all over. It was so beautiful! It was funny because it reminded me a lot of Rabat, probably because part of the city was walled and the waves were pretty large. we walked along the wall, then I climbed all around the rocks and beach barefoot in the FREEZING cold water. It was awesome! Then we walked around the city, and left for Cancale (a small fishing place known for oysters I guess) for lunch. We had an interesting experience eating fresh oysters while we watched them take more out from the traps. After Cancale, we left for Mont St Michel. We got those stupid headset guided tour things that the ashleys and I just made fun of the whole time. I think it was just too easy. But Mont St Michel itself is gorgeous. The city is built on a hill that drops off and is surrounded by water (I think 2 rivers). We walked all around and hung out until it was time to get back on the bus. That night, my host sister was having a late birthday party type thing with a bunch of her friends while my host parents had dinner with some friends. My host mom said it was ok if I stayed ad hung out with them, but I still can't figure out if my host sister likes me... She's only around on the weekends so I don't see her very much and when I do, we're both doing our own thing. I'm really close with my host mom, but for some reason it's way more tricky to be friends with people my own age. So I stayed for the party even though my friends were planning stuff for my friend Emily's birthday. Ok so if someone in the US was hosting someone from another country and they seemed like they didn't know anyone, people would at the very least be curious, right? Not the case. People came in, sat down next to me and turned their backs to me to talk to the other people in the room. Not one person talked to me for like an hour, even when I tried to talk to one girl she responded to my lame attempt at starting a conversation, then turned back to the others. It was so awkward! So I went to my room and called my friends and headed out. Luckily my friend was on the bus on the way there, and I ended up having a pretty good night and making friends with a few random french people who seem to enjoy just walking up to people and starting a conversation. On my way home, I was in a little pain as I wore my very high red heels so I took them off to walk home, but decided it would be bad to walk in barefoot so I stopped to put them back on... and of course that's when my host parents drove by to get home! We walked into the house together and it was a wreck from the party. with cigarette butts on the coffee tale, a glass with some wine in it next to the coat rack and food scattered on the floor. I was so surprised that my host mom wasn't more upset but i got the feeling that she kind of expected it.
it's crazy because it feels like the days are going by really slowly but the weeks fly by! It's so weird to think I've already been here for over a month! Tonight I'm making my host family tacos and chocolate chip cookies but I'll write again soon, I promise.

Alors, c'est ni le maroc ni les Etats Unis... Cette merde est la France!

I know it's been over a week since my last post, but I've gotta say, I haven't felt the urge to write. To explain the title... I'm not in Morocco anymore but I'm certainly not in the US. It sounds obvious, but let me tell you, it's something I have to constantly remind myself. It's been kind of a stressful week as I didn't test well on the placement test for classes so now I have to take a class lower than I wanted, but just for a week until i can convince them that I should be in a higher level. I don't know why I'm so stressed about it, but I can't help it. If I don't get into the higher level I just wasted a very expensive semester. Although I LOVE my host family (my host mom wrote a thank you note to the program director for placing me here) and the people I've met have been great, it's weird because there isn't that constant action that was Morocco as a whole. Jason impressed me the other day with a great analogy. I was cranky and trying to figure out why and he said that expecting the same excitement from France that I had in Morocco is crazy and is like sky diving and expecting the same thrill while on the ground. Not to say that great things can't happen, but it's not the same exhilaration. He's so right!

But while France is not Morocco, it's also certainly not the United States. I have to constantly remind myself that though because there are so many similarities. There aren't the stark differences (like lack of hot water, turkish toilets, the call to prayer, etc) that were in morocco and each time the TV turns on, I see the same shows and movies (I'm watching meet joe black as i type this and I've already seen Avatar, House, CSI, Grey's and NCIS) as in the US, but am always surprised when it's in French! They have a dog, Easy, and sometimes when I'm talking to her it's more difficult to speak in French. Each day I realize that there is so much vocabulary that I've never had any need to know, but now i find I need to know how to say words like brain, shark, and scuba diving. I like it because i feel like talking with my host parents alone makes me that much better at understanding and speaking french.

other times i feel completely lost! it takes all of my attention to follow their conversations and a lot of the time after classes i just don't have the focus. My host mom doesn't speak any english (only a few choice words) and my host dad speaks a little but only tries in English when my mom's not around (he knows i should speak in French but he likes to practice and when I correct his english). They're really great people but I forget that they don't speak english. It became really clear when I was talking to my sister on skype and my host mom came in to ask me if I wanted to have some tea. She met Tricia, but had me translate for her. she was so cute telling me to let my sister know that I am well loved here and that I'm being taken care of. afterwards she said it was remarkable how fast i spoke with my sister. But I don't think they realized how fast they talk sometimes.

I'm at the end of my preprogram french class. tomorrow is the last day (finally!) and I can't wait to start real classes and have a real schedule. I haven't had a set, unchanging schedule since last may, so I'm ready for some structure. The preprogram wasn't bad but it would have been better if I liked my professor. He's just not a very good teacher unfortunately. But tomorrow is the last day! I really hope that my professors at the university are better.

Aside from that, I've been busy enough having fun with the people (mostly girls) I've met. Every morning I take the bus into Rennes (I live just outside of the city) with a couple other girls and I usually take it back with at least one. We eat lunch every day at the university dining hall, which is usually CRAZY busy. The food's pretty good for dining hall food (of course it is, I'm in France!) but there are random things that I decide to try... like today. I had a sandwich (the line was shorter) but I had no idea what was on it. Correction: even after eating it, I still have NO idea what was on it. There were hard boiled eggs, lettuce, tomato, mustard and... some kind of meat. Neither I nor my friends could figure out what it was, but it didn't taste like anything! Aside from that, the food has been incredible. SO MUCH CHEESE AND WINE!! Each time I eat cheese or bread or drink wine I decide that I'm definitely in the right country. Gotta love it! Ok it's time for bed but I'll keep you updated on how the next few days go! I need to start taking more pictures... I'll get on that. =)

Rennes and host family life =)

My life in Rennes... c'est comme ca. I LOVE IT HERE! I mean, I've been a little stressed, but for the most part, it's been incredible. I live in a town right next to rennes and I can get into the city in about 20 minutes on a bus that stops around the corner from my house. The city of rennes itself isn't that big, but with the towns that surround it, it's huge. I live in a neighborhood where all of the houses look the same, cute and small from the outside but pretty large inside. I have my own room which has a HUGE bed, a desk, a closet and a few shelves for my stuff along with a bathroom (without a toilet) attached. The WC (bathroom with just a toilet) is just outside my room. It's on the first floor right next to the door. As you enter the house, the living room is right there, and the dining room table is in the same room. They have a cute backyard and an amaryllis and an orchid along with a really cute kitchen. The upstairs is the study and their bedrooms.

The family... is incredible! I live with my host mom and dad who are just so cute. They have been together almost 30 years and are both the same age as my mom at home. They insist that I use the tu form of you (the less formal) and refer to them by their first names because they are truly young. =) I understand them for the most part but I'm actually concerned that as I become more comfortable, I'm understanding them less because I'm not listening as closely. They speak VERY little english which is perfect for me. I need the challenge. lol. Actually, staci said that they requested someone who was outgoing and spoke french well so that they could truly have conversations and get to know them and that's why they put me here. That made me really really happy because that means that they think I speak french well! Anyway, they have 3 kids, one son who is 27 who lives in Quebec with his wife and kids, a daughter who is 24 and lives in Rennes but not here and another daughter who is 20 and goes to school about half an hour away so she came back for the weekend. Oh yeah and they have a golden retriever named easy and 3 cats... one black, one gray and one is the puffiest and fluffiest cat i've ever seen in my entire life. I swear it must have gotten it's tail stuck in an electical outlet or something because this is one huge puffball. he's HUGE.

So Friday we had our placement tests and let me tell you I was buggin out I was so nervous. The night before I had the weirdest dreams and I woke up at 2:30am thinking I overslept and was going to miss the test. but my host mom came in at 8am to wake me up. I got ready and had breakfast with them. They keep asking me what i like to eat and i think they are really trying to make it as like home as possible, but I really want to tell them that I just want to eat what they normally eat. I told my host mom the first day that I will try almost anything. So for breakfast I had tea (which they like tea as much as I do! It's awesome.) and toast with butter and jam that my host mom makes. It was great! My host dad drove me so that i could figure out the bus over the weekend. The night before though they went over the bus schedule and route with me and my host mom even walked me to the bus stop to show me how to get back. It was so sweet!

So my host dad dropped me off and I found the building just fine. I met up with the others and we sat and just waited. Then we were led into a room for the test... except there wasn't enough room for all of us so ashley s and I had to take it in another room with students from all over. I felt so bad for this one girl who is from Spain I think because she doesn't speak any french. She asked if she could answer the questions in spanish and when they said no, i thought she was going to cry. she spoke very good english... but i guess not so much french. I felt so bad!! We were given the test and it really wasn't that bad. I mean, we were given a picture prompt, a conversation prompt, we had to make an argument (does true love still exist? or should we travel less to save the planet?), and there was a page of fill-ins on the back. The fill-in where pretty difficult and I keep thinking about what I should have written but I guess it went ok. I don't find out how I did until Wednesday so there's no point in worrying about it now I guess. After the test we got lunch at the university restaurant (which is like a 5 minute walk from the building) with les moniteurs, which we'll be doing for the rest of the semester. It was hilarious because I felt like a freshman again... we're like little lost puppies all the time because we have no idea what's going on. we went back to the same building after lunch and a woman came in and walked us through the paperwork we need to do for our student i.d.s and for the visas. A bunch of people went on a tour of the campus, but I was ready to go back to the house so I left with Ashley S and another friend who both live in the same town as me. I got back to the house and had a few minutes to myself, so I took some pictures of my room and everything. I thought about taking a nap, but instead I decided to hang out. Soon enough my host sister came home, then my host mom. My host mom and I had tea and chatted, then she made dinner and my host dad put in the code for the internet and told me I could use any of the books they have upstairs and put a huge dictionary in the downstairs closet for me. I showed them the pictures of my family and jason and friends. They ask so many questions!! I love it =) they want to know what everyone's doing and how many pets I have and do I eat this in the United states and what do I like to do and what is my sister studying? it's great! and it's not just like those questions that people ask to be polite, but they truly listen and try to help me when I try to explain something and I don't have the vocabulary. not once have they said forget it, but they really want to know what I have to say. it's so nice! after dinner we watched NCIS until both me and my host mom were falling asleep.

Saturday morning I had breakfast with my host mom after she woke me up. I woke up soooo confused because I had dreamt in english, but I woke up speaking french. Anyway, we went into Rennes where there is a huge open market every saturday morning. it's mostly fresh fruits, veggies and meat, but there were books too, which were pretty cool and fairly cheap. They showed us where our french class would be on monday, and where the bars are. Ashley S and I wandered around for a while, then met up with the others for lunch at a creperie. I guess rennes is known for les galettes, like a crepe, and it's alcoholic cider. it was incredible! Then we got our cell phones for here (i unfortunately left my phone from morocco in the hostel in dublin) so now i have a phone and it's actually nicer and less expensive than my phone at home! it has a keyboard, but of course, it's a french keyboard which is different than an american keyboard. afterwards we went to look for a converter for ashley, but they really didn't have any so we looked around a few stores (like H&M and Mim) and took the bus back. It's the first weekend of the semi annual sales so there were HUNDREDS of people there. It was like black friday. CRAZY. But my host mom assured me that this is the only day that it's really that bad. I came back to the house and went online. I had heard about the coup d'etat in tunisia and my friend Chandra had been there just days before. I didn't know she had already left so i was pretty worried for a lot of the day. luckily when i got back i found out she was already safe and sound in the US. I talked to her for a while, then talked to jason until my host mom and sister got back. I had more tea, and brought my computer into the living room where i started looking for classes i can take or audit (if I don't test high enough i can always audit) and i found a class on breton history and another on french contemporary society. I think i want to audit the class on Breton, the language also... we'll see. i want to talk to daniel and find out what would be the best to take.I gave my host parents the gifts I brought (hershey's chocolate, the change purse in the shape of a shoe from morocco made from leather, and a yankee candle. They loved them and i think they were perfect for them because my host dad LOVES chocolate and my host mom already claimed the shoe so she put her lipstick in it (thanks again Mom for getting the chocolate!). I have to say I did bring 2 bars of chocolate for them but i'm a terrible person and saved one for when i have a bad day.

So they whipped out maps and a photo book of the Britanny region of france so we could look at where I go to school and where I live with my family. They've actually been to eastern jersey before because they stayed there a night before going into NYC with their son who lives in Quebec. They've actually traveled quite a bit i think. My host mom was telling me that she and her husband went to thailand when their kids were young and marine, the 20 year old, has been to indonesia for some reason. They're really the coolest people ever! I'm having such a good time trying to figure out what they say and telling them about my life. It really makes me not want to travel and just spend my time here while I can! Oh and it doesn't hurt that my host mom is an awesome cook. we had quiche for dinner on saturday night and it was incredible!

Sunday I slept until 11am! I haven't found a church yet and I wanted to see what sundays are like here. and let me tell you, they know how to do sundays. I had breakfast when i got up and watched Brothers in french, then wrote in my room until lunch. Lunch was foie something and duck. I ate duck! and some type of liver! and chestnuts! It was sooo good too! I had more tea after and we watched Monk in French. i am loving sundays here. They cleaned while i typed in my room and my host mom keeps telling me that if i need to clean or if i want anything cleaned just to tell her and she showed me where things are so i can clean. Later I came out and met my host mom's daughter and her partner. They were really nice but it made dinner really intersesting. All 4 women had very strong opinions, so it was funny to hear them all talk sooo fast and argue. My host dad kept getting involved but a lot of the time he would just smile and eat. We had pizza, which was soo different because it had egg and creme fraiche and different things on it. I liked it a lot, but it was REALLY different. =) We watched a movie after dinner, then I went to bed because i had a very early monday morning for class.

J'adore Paris et Rennes!

Ok sorry it took me soooo long to write... it's been an insane past couple of days. nothing too too crazy, just really long. So I think i left off when i was on my way to paris from lille after i couldn't land in beauvais. so 2 hours later I arrived at beauvais where I had to take another bus into paris. luckily i figured it out and got onto the bus pretty quickly, but by that time it didn't even matter. I was already late for the pick up from charles de gaulle so i figured i'd just get there as fast as i could without stressing too much. so i got into port maillot and took a cab to the hotel. I walked in the door, and was welcomed by my program director and the assistant who organized the host families, Daniel and Staci. As soon as I walked in they were like, "oh are you erin??" (but of course in french. from the beginning, everything is in french. it takes a little getting used to but i LOVE it). I explained everything that happened and they reassured me that i didn't miss too much. One of les moniteurs (students at the university in Rennes who came to Paris for orientation and help us get around and answer our day to day questions throughout the semester), Pierre-Yves, helped me bring my stuff up to my room, where I met my roommates both named Ashley. I just dropped off my stuff to go right back downstairs to meet with Staci and Daniel so they could fill me in on what I missed. They're sooo nice! Staci is from Milwaulkee, and although she's lived in France for something like 11 years, she still has a mid-west accent with her French, making it a little easier to understand. Also, I've found that I understand women much better than men which is strange. i'm still trying to figure that out. lol.

Anyway, I got the low down on the schedule for the week and they gave me tickets for the metro, some spending money (which was spent solely on food) and a time for my meeting with them so that they can place me with a host family. I went back to my room, a little overwhelmed, and began to organize my stuff. The Ashley's were wandering around the city, so I had some time to myself to change and relax and stuff. I had internet for like 5 minutes before it decided not to work, so I went downstairs and decided to walk around a bit before meeting the group for dinner. Our hotel was right across the bridge from Notre Dame, so I walked to the bridge and just stayed there for a bit to collect my thoughts. The whole day was so overwhelming, I think I just needed a moment.

I went back to the hotel and realized that I had left my key in my other jeans, so I was soooo happy when I knocked and my roommates were both there. We got ready for dinner and headed down a little late. Everyone had left already except Daniel and Staci and a few students in a different program through ciee. So we took the metro and went to dinner with them. I learned there are 4 Ashleys on the trip and 3 Katherines along with a Katie and 2 Rachels. Luckily I'm the only Erin (Thanks Mom for not giving me a super popular name!) because I can't imagine how confusing it must be for them. Anyway, we got to dinner a little late, but we were the first to get there. After a few minutes though, it was a little overwhelming having the entire 42 person group at dinner. We had this awesome fish dish (yes I ate and enjoyed fish... look what morocco and traveling has done to me!) and for dessert... creme brulee! It was a great meal, but more importantly, it was so much fun. Of course it was in French (for the most part) but we had a pretty good time. By the time we were done, i was done for the day. I just wanted to go back to the hotel and go to sleep. So I went back and got ready for bed, read a little (which btw I already finished the Kite Runner) and went to sleep.

The next morning we were up pretty early for breakfast at the hotel, then we went to Montmartre. I LOVE MONTMARTRE! I had been there my first time in France, just after high school and it was just as I remember. It was a little strange seeing it again because the first time is like a distant dream now. I was with completely different people and it was such a different time. But this time we visited Moulin Rouge. It was pretty cool to just be there, but it made me want to watch the movie soooo badly. haha. we went to a cafe not far, then we went back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we went to the Hotel de Ville, or the old city hall. I'd never been there and apparently it's pretty hard to get a tour. There's a hall that looks VERY similar to the Hall of Mirrors in the palace of Versaille, except on the walls, near the ceiling, there are paintings of women from each part of france. It was pretty neat. I liked the tour a lot, but it was a little long and towards the end we were all just soooo tired. But we quickly regained our excitement after when we left for the Eiffel Tower. I decided not to go up this time, but it was so cool to see it all lit up and beautiful. While some went up, we went to a cafe (my 2nd for the day) and sat and chatted. We had way too much fun just chatting and getting to know each other, then we regrouped and went back to the hotel. We were left on our own for dinner, and one of the Ashleys I guess had made plans with one of the other girls to get dinner right after we got back. The other Ashley and I were like, oh ok well we can get ready fast and go down. But I guess it wasn't an invitation because when Ashley S went to the bathroom, Ashley Z said good bye and that she was going to dinner. I was a little surprised, but Ashley S and I chatted for a while, then decided to go down when we were ready and see if anyone else was going to dinner. We ended up going to dinner with les moniteurs, Clemence, Adeline, Pierre-Yves and Viktor, and a few other students. We went to a greek restaurant for dinner, then to a bar not far for a few drinks. It was hilarious. we ended up at this piano bar -type place and ordered drinks that we had never heard of before. I had only one, but let me tell you that was enough. after not drinking very often in morocco and at home and adding that to my already low tolerance, one was more than enough. My friends though had 2 and were less silly than I was! But it was fun and it was a good night. Ashley and I went back to the room and talked for a long time, until the other ashley came back and talked with us. By the end of the night, we were all exhausted.

The next morning all three of us had our meetings with Staci and Daniel so we had breakfast, then went back to the room to sleep.Ashley S had her appointment first, so I got ready after she left, then I went down a little after she got back. It was the first time I'd showered since... the day I left. Which was Saturday. and it was now Wednesday... Definitely a product of Morocco! My meeting didn't take too long. They asked me whether it mattered if the family smoked, had kids, had pets, etc. They asked what my interests are and asked what my experience in Morocco was like and how my host family was there. I told them how much I loved my host family in Rabat and that nothing really matters, kids, no kids it doesn't matter to me.

When I got back to the room I slept for a while, then I woke up the Ashleys and we went to Notre Dame to see the inside. They had never been inside and I told them it was important. It's sooo beautiful! So we went and came back, a little late for lunch at the hotel again. After lunch we went to le musee carnivalet which was kind of cool, but ultimately I was sooo tired of tours and walking at that point and our tour guide just kept talking. and talking. and talking. as usual, en francais tous les temps. it was a little too much for me, but when we were done we went back to the hotel and hung out until 6, when we walked/ran to our bateau mouche (a boat tour on the Seine). It was so nice! We went down the seine past the small statue of liberty and we passed the eiffel tower just as it lit up (it's always lit at night, but every hour on the hour, they put on lights that make it truly sparkle). It is impossible to describe, but en francais, c'est magnifique!

After the boat tour, we went to dinner with everyone again at a restaurant just across the bridge from Notre Dame. It was a really cute place and the food was great! Some people went out afterwards, but I really didn't have the energy for it. So Ashley S and I went back to the hotel so she could pack and I could sleep, but neither of those things happened. We ended up talking and didn't go to sleep until well after the other Ashley returned from the bar

The next morning we got up far too early because we had to be at breakfast by 7:30am. We left on the bus at 8:30 and arrived in Chartres at around 10 I think. We had another tour of the cathedral, but it was awesome! We walked into the church and stood for a few moments before our guide came. He came over and as soon as he opened his mouth Ashley and I turned to each other and were like "yes!" He was an old english man who reminded me more and more of Bilbo Baggins the more he spoke. He was such a cute old man! and oh man did he know a lot about the cathedral. we sat in the middle while he told us the history and the explained the story on one of the stained glass windows. It was the coolest thing ever. We had lunch in Chartres, then left for Rennes. On the bus Staci called us up to her seat one by one to tell us who was in our host family and where it was. I was so happy I was sitting near the front! We got into Rennes around 6:30 and met our host families at the university. It was so funny because the first meeting is soooo awkward and some were clearly less comfortable than others, but it was pretty clear that everyone was pretty excited. It was actually kind of like a 7th grade dance, girls on one side boys on the other. Except this time it was excited families on one side and anxious students on the other. My host mom met me when they called our names and we talked for a while, then left for her house.

Oh boy... what have i gotten myself into?!

Sunday
So I got through security with no issues (they let me through with hand sanitizer in my purse... clearly recognizing how much i need given my recent lack of hygiene after Morocco) and sat with plenty of time. There was the CUTEST irish family sitting next to me, the youngest boy racing a car under the waiting area seats. As we were in line to get on the plane I overheard the girl behind me trying to figure out how to get an aisle seat as she had just gotten food poisoning and was concerned about how fast she could get to the bathroom. so I switched with her and actually got a seat near the wing with extra leg room. The flight was pretty boring, thank God. I watched the social network which made me happy because i had missed it when it came out and I slept the rest of the trip. It was very dark when we landed in Dublin.

Oh Dublin. I love it here and can't wait to come back, but it's been suuuch a random day. I took a cab (the dricer was the cutest old irish guy who loved telling me all about Ireland and Dublin and where everything is) to the hostel I had picked out, just to find out that I had made a reservation for the night of the 9th... while I was in the air. Luckily there was room, but I couldn't get into the room until 2. it was 8am. So I left my bags and realized that if I had booked the hostel for the wrong day, I probably booked my flight for the wrong day. I checked and there it was. I hadn't even landed in Dublin when I was supposed to be boarding a flight on the way to Paris. But since it's a Sunday morning, nothing's open so I can't do anything about it anyway. So I walked. I walked and walked and walked all around the city just taking it in. The sun rose well after 9, right before I found a Catholic church that had mass at 9:30. It was a beautiful cathedral and a very short but sweet mass. I was walking around after just looking at the statues and stained glass when a young man approached me asking me if he'd seen me before and whether I wanted to talk. He seemed nice and I had nothing else to do (and besides I was still in the church surrounded by old Irish people) so I figured, why not? It turns out he's from Nigeria and is studying engineering. He gave me his facebook info and email, then asked me if he could take me to breakfast. So I went with him (i figured it was money i wouldn't have to spend later when I was actually hungry) to a nice little restaurant that played rihanna the entire time we talked about nigeria, morocco and the USA. It was a pretty cool breakfast. Afterwards he showed me where i could take the bus the next morning to get to the airport. He invited me to his apartment but don't worry mom, I didn't go. Instead we said good bye and I went to the internet cafe so I could let everyone know that i was safe and buy my ticket for france for the right day.

I headed back towards the hostel, but it wasn't 2pm yet soo I decided to go to Trinity College which btw is only a 2 minute walk from the hostel. I walked through campus, went and saw the Book of Kells which was cool and interesting but definitely not worth the 9euro to look at a book behind glass that you can't take pictures of. But I thought my mom would kill me if I didn't at the very least see it. I sat on a bench and read my book for a while, then stopped to watch a men's rugby practice (i think it only interests me because no matter how many times i watch it i still don't get it... kind of like football) then continued wandering around dublin. I stumbled on the national wax museum which sounded cool but in actuality was pretty damn creepy. I mean, i think it could have been fun but I was also alone, and nothing is as much fun alone as it is with friends. By that time it was almost 3 so I went to the hostel and got my baggage from the luggage room and went to the room I was sharing with 3 other girls. No one was there so I decided i was in desperate need of a nap. I put the sheets they gave me on my bed and slept for at least 2 hours. I woke up and had no drive to get out of bed, but I knew if i didn't i wouldn't sleep well at night and I had a very early morning the next day. So I got up and remembered that i hadn't brushed my teeth, washed my face, or taken my thyroid pills in about a day. to be honest with you i still don't have the energy to figure out how long it had been. lol.

so as i was getting ready, the girls i was sharing a room with got back. they are sooo nice! They're from germany, but they're studying in manchester and just visiting ireland before they go back to school. they slept while i read, then they asked me if i wanted to order food with them. sorry mom, but i didn't get fish and chips like you insisted, but i did get chips... with my chinese food. I couldn't get over the fact that I am American on my way to France eating Chinese food with German friends in Ireland and the last meal i'd had was with a nigerian. let's add a few more countries in there, shall we? it blew my mind.

I have to say, the hostel i was in was AWESOME. It has WiFi downstairs, was really clean and had free coffee and tea. It was minutes from the Temple BAr (which i was too exhausted to see) and Trinity College. Oh and did I mention that it was 10 euro a night? or that it had a bus come and pick me up for the airport at 4:30am for 7 euro? it was perfect. So if you're going to dublin... Ashfield House fo sho.

Monday
Thank God I woke up in time (I even woke up at 2:30 thinking i was already late) and was able to get all my stuff together. One of the girls in the room was also leaving in the morning so we left together on the bus. When I got to the airport I found out that I'd made a mistake and bought luggage space for one 15kg bag instead of 20kg. wasn't going to happen. So I had to buy a second bag to add to it and just checked my carry on (I wasn't positive it was going to make the size restriction cut anyway). Unfortunately, after checkin both bags I realized that my computer was still in the bag that was going to be my checked bag. I started to get nervous, but at this point there was nothing I could do so I said a prayer and went through security, no problem. I got to my gate with half an hour til my flight and they were still boarding for the last flight that was leaving from that gate. Again, I got on with no issues. After a while though I was nervous because it was nearing 9am and we weren't descending. A woman came on the loudspeaker and told us that Beauvais was closed and that we were landing in Lille. Awesome. Once we landed they assured us that there would be a bus going to Beauvais. So we all rushed to get through and put our baggage on the bus, but only a few made it onto the first one. So I took my luggage off that bus and waited for the next. Althought it looked like it was filling up, I got onto the next bus, but it's going to take about 2 hours... great. a shuttle was supposed to pick me up at 9:30 from the airport to take me to charles de gaulle in time to meet with my program director for orientation. not going to happen. i'm hoping that the shuttle at least is there though because regardless of the time, I need to make it into Paris to take the metro and find the hotel i'll be staying in with my program.

Peacin out again!

So I after spending waaaayyyyy too much energy trying to pack and far too much time in the Hampton Diner catching up with people I'm heading out again tonight. I'm actually really nervous. A lot has happened since I've been home and this break was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I don't feel ready, but then again I'm never ready to leave home. I love traveling but I am soooo awful at good byes. I'm off onto the next big adventure though! First stop: Dublin. A night in Dublin then an early morning in Paris. A couple days in Paris for orientation, then RENNES! I'm excited nervous and scared but I know/keep telling myself that I'm ready and will have an awesome time. Wish me luck again and pray for me!