Madelyn's Blog

It’s been a great day so far! Class was really good today, we spent the last 15 minutes talking about idioms and translations. As we learned, the direct translation for “couch potato,” pomme de terre d’un canape, does not mean anything to them. Also, instead of saying something is peachy, they say “J’ai la peche,” or “I have the peach.” Hm. After class we went to the spa, which was pretty much just pools and a sauna and something called a Hammam, which, as far as I can tell, was like a sauna with eucalyptus. Very good for the sinuses. After the spa I came home and took a little nap, and came downstairs to find a big table set up in the living room with all kinds of glasses and plates and silverware, and several varieties of snacks baking in the kitchen. I had no idea what was going on, then I remembered tonight is the finale of Peking Express! (The French version of The Amazing Race) Two of the finalists are friends of my family, so we’re having a party. Some of the other USAC students invited me out to karaoke tonight, but how can I miss the finale of Peking Express? Plus, all this food looks delicious. I played a game today after my nap called Dobble (I think) where everyone crowds around a deck of cards with pictures on them. Two cards are flipped at a time, and you have to find the pictures on the cards that match and the first person to figure it out gets the cards. It isn’t hard, but it helped me learn several new words in French, since it’s the same 20 or so words repeating. I now know how to say ghost, baby bottle, light bulb, spider web, ice cube, and sea horse. Good to know.

Time to get ready for Peking Express!

ps. Pictures are up! Merci Alex!

UPDATE:

I almost forgot to write about the Aquagym! At the spa there is a half hour class offered a few times a day called Aquagym in a separate pool in a separate room. We thought it would be somewhat like water aerobics at the Y, since the pool was filled with elderly women, but our USAC student guide, Anne-Gaelle, convinced us to go anyway (in gustures…she speaks no English and understands very little of our French.) The Aquagym pool was about 20 degrees colder than the other spa pools, and as I contemplated leaving a woman came in, shut the door, and shouted “ALLONS-Y!” (LET’S GO!) She picked up on our accents very quickly, looked at us sideways and said, “Ohhhh, les Americaines…huh huh huh.” It sounded like a threat, and I was very afraid. We came to realize very soon that this was no water aerobics class, and all of the elderly women were regulars and surprisingly athletic. I can describe the woman only as the French version of Jillian Michaels. With some coaching from the elderly women in the class, (“Non, comme ca! Comme ca!”) we survived. Also, luckily, it was only a half hour class. It was QUITE an experience, and though we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but I don’t think I’ll be signing up for Aquagym anytime soon.