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. =)