Madelyn's Blog

Today was a lazy day. I woke up really early (7am) to talk to Alex after his friend’s wedding, then went back to sleep for what felt like 10 minutes but was really almost 4 hours. I would probably have adjusted to the time change by now if I didn’t insist on being awake at strange hours to talk to people back home. I’m pretty much still living on Eastern Standard time…well, at least this way I won’t have to adjust in 15 days when I come home! Luckily my new French lifestyle is very conducive to my daily napping. I decided after taking a shower this morning that I was not going to stayed holed up in this house all day, so I took a walk around the neighborhood. It rained all last night, and by rained I mean poured. In France, the weather is gorgeous for 5/7 days, and the other 2 it looks and sounds like the sky is falling. Tomorrow we are sure to return to one of the sun days, which is good because I have started to take a serious interest in getting rid of my tank top tan lines. I have a strapless dress for a wedding the week after I get home, and I won’t be having any stripes down my shoulders!

Things I learned today:

The elderly lady across the street is crazy. My family told me, “Elle a perdu sa tete.” (She has lost her mind.) but I had no idea until today…I was out taking my walk and she blocked my way down the sidewalk and insisted that I come back to her house with her. This lady meant business, she was not taking no for an answer. Luckily I pulled out the “Sorry-I-don’t-speak-French” card and skittered away before I met some Hansel and Gretl-esque fate.

French TV is largely American TV dubbed in French. They say the title with a French accent (Ahhnahh Montahhhnahhh) and voila.

The French do not believe in washcloths. Anyone who knows me well understands how grave of a problem this is for me. It has been a great lesson in adaptation.

Bonne nuit,

p.s. Coming soon, the second batch of pictures!

The Tour de France experience was wonderful! I think Kelsey, Jameel, Heather, Carolyn, Caroline and I were the first ones there (at about 9:30am)…except for a few American tourists. I learned that patriotism sometimes comes dressed in an American flag biker vest and cut-off Wrangler jeans. A midst the cobblestone boulevards and the 18th century French architecture, it wasn’t hard to spot a fellow Amurrican.  After stopping for a piece of pain au chocolate we made our way down the Boulevard des Pyrenees to the starting line which was surrounded by sponsor tents and merchandise vans. W e got our souvenirs (and some really stylish free hats) and staked out a spot on the street to watch the caravan come through. The caravan is basically a pre-race parade in which all the Tour de France sponsors throw hats and little snacks and samples of fabric softener at you. Cultural note: there are two main differences in this French style of parade and the traditional American parade. One: In France, very little candy is thrown. Instead, I was thrown hats, pens, laundry detergent, and packaged sausage samples. Two: In America, we gently toss the goodies underhandedly to the crowd of waiting, eager children. I wondered why there were so few children near the street for the caravan…that is until I experienced the first bombardment of sponsor gifts. The French people on the floats take a much more serious approach to doling out their cadeaux. They lock in on a target, wind up, and pitch the tiny projectiles as hard and as fast as they can at the unknowing crowd member. Some of the members of our group (cough KELSEY cough :] ) were a little overzealous about getting the treats that were thrown at us, which added to the danger of the whole experience. When the racers finally came past, we were all very happy to see them as we had been standing in the sun for several hours waiting. I had no idea there were so many racers in the Tour de France! The tour headed off into the mountains, and we headed to a kabob restaurant for lunch on the recommendation of some of our Spanish classmates. It was delicious and very inexpensive and we promised the owners we would return soon. After the tour I came home and took a nap, then had a very late dinner with my family and went to bed.

This morning I got up and went to the market in the center of town. Monday-Friday there is a market where vendors sell all kinds of fresh produce and meat, but on Saturday another part of the building is opened up to local farmers and gardeners. I bought fresh bananas, peaches, and a baguette, and then walked around that part of town for half an hour or so before coming home. I just got in from reading on the deck and sunbathing. I am getting quite a tan being here in the sun every day.  My host parents left this morning and won’t be back until tomorrow, so I am fending for myself tonight. Luckily Jeanne Marie baked some sort of ham and olive loaf and left it on the stove so I won’t starve to death in my new-found domestic helplessness.

Ciao!

No school today, happy Bastille day! I’m at Carolyn’s dorm right now, we just got done working on our Haiti presentation and going out to dinner with our fellow study abroad-ers. Tomorrow morning is the  Tour de France, and it’s supposed to be in the 70s and mostly sunny- perfect. We’re planning to be downtown on the Boulevard des Pyrenees by 9:30am sharp. The caravan takes off at 11:45 and the race stage starts just after. We saw official Tour de France vehicles downtown today, and signs pointing towards the starting line…everyone is getting ready! I am very excited. Also, tomorrow is my French brother’s 25th birthday, so I think we’re having some kind of celebration at the house. I am off to play with the other USAC students,

A demain!

It rained today in sunny Pau! The thunderstorms are supposed to continue all night and all day tomorrow. Don’t worry though, forecasters predict sun and temperatures in the mid 70s just in time for the Bastille Day parade on Thursday and the Tour de France on Friday. Here is a numbered list of things I learned today.

1. I can be up, showered, fed, dressed, and out the door in 40 minutes. This feat was aided by my hairdryer blowing a fuse and being rendered useless the first day I got here.

2. Everything here is smaller than it is in America. French cars, washing machines, ice cream cones, and chairs are all plus petit que in the USA.

3. I require a lot less sleep than I used to. I think my body is preparing itself for med school.

On that note I do still need some sleep, so I will write again tomorrow.

Bonne nuit

Salut tout le monde! Sorry for not updating in 2 days, Saturday I was in the Basque country and yesterday I spent lounging and in the midst of naps and writing post cards and reading in bed I somehow never made it to the computer. The Pays Basque was lovely. We stopped first in the petite ville of Sauveterre de Bearn, home to a 15th century church which was a common stop for those on pilgrimages to Spain. We made another stop in St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, which means “foot of the mountain pass.” It is located, as you can guess, at the foot of the Pyrenees and the mountain pass to Spain. We climbed a hill to the Citadelle overlooking the city and spend a little time shopping for souvenirs. This region of France is famous for its colorful linens…everything from clothing to tablecloths to bags. For lunch, we ate in Saint Martin d’Arrossa at a restaurant called Chez Katina. The meal consisted of an appetizer plate (foie gras, tomato, egg, salami and ham), chicken marsala with potatoes, cheese with fig sauce, and an apple tarte. I couldn’t bring myself to try the foie gras just yet but everything else was delicious. From there we made our way (by charter bus, I should mention) to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a.k.a. the beach. The city was pretty lively; everyone was out setting up for a tuna festival later that day. The clouds seemed to part as soon as our feet hit the sand, and the breeze from the ocean felt wonderful. We laid by the water and watched a beach volleyball tournament for an hour and a half or so, then ventured into the city and walked up and down its main street. Everything there was very expensive because its a popular destination for wealthy tourists. All in all we spent a lovely day in the Pays Basque, and I think all that walking and eating and laying in the sun took its toll because we were all asleep on the bus before we even got out of the city. I got home at about 8:30pm, and by then I had no motivation to go out of the house again so I ate dinner with the family and retired to ma chambre.

Yesterday I spent at home too, working on homework and writing post cards. Class was good today, we read a french cartoon book and learned about verb tenses. I went shopping at LeClerc, which is the French version of Walmart, basically. (By “French version” I mean a nicer with a huge bakery and produce section.) None of the big stores here provide you with disposable plastic bags, you either have to bring your own or buy reusable ones for 15 cents. It’s a little inconvenient when you forget yours or your trip to the store is unanticipated, but I’m sure it cuts down on a lot of waste. I’ve been here 2 weeks and I’ve yet to see a single grocery bag blowing down the side of the road in the grass.

I hear it’s stormy in Michigan right now, but here it’s a cloudless 80 degrees.

A demain

Today I was surprised to learn upon arriving to school that we had a mandatory scavenger hunt downtown after class. Apparently they told us this on the first day, in French. Lo and behold, I missed that nugget of information. Class today was interesting…we spent the first half doing a reading comprehension activity on the computer (I didn’t know Windows XP still existed…it does.) and the second half arguing about bears. After class we ate lunch and met at the Place Royale to start the jeu de piste. We were divided randomly into teams of 4 or 5 people, but luckily there are so many Americans that no matter how they divided us we knew someone in our group. It was 80+ degrees out, and not knowing about the scavenger hunt I wore dark jeans today. Bad choice. I’m from the UP…we can deal with 30-below windchill, but as soon as the thermometer tops 75 we are melting. By the end of the game I was hot and sweaty and irritated with the Portuguese girl who took over our team, so Kelsey, Heather, Jessica and I decided to get ice cream from Georgio to cheer up. Georgio is a French man with an ice cream truck who makes and sells his own ice cream and sorbets downtown. The word delicious does not even begin to describe the amazing mood-altering quality of these frozen treats. I had mango, Kelsey and Heather had raspberry, and Jessica had passion fruit. I could have eaten any of them for days. I came home after ice cream to an empty, quiet, cool house, and couldn’t think of anything but taking a nap. I slept for 2 hours and woke up bright-eyed and hungry, but my French mother was no where to be found. Jean Bernard and I sat on the couch and watched the news for a while, waiting for someone to come home and feed us. France has rendered me largely helpless…I have not cooked or done laundry or gone grocery shopping for anything other than chocolate since I’ve been here. Hopefully when I return to the states my people will take care of me until my domestic skills return. (cough Sam & Alex cough) It’s almost time for bed, we have to be at school at 8:20am tomorrow to leave for the pays Basque and the beach. Hopefully it’s a sunny and warm as today!

Au revoir!

Today has been a quiet day, recuperating from last night’s festivities. My family’s friends won on Pekin Express! It was quite the party, 20 or so middle aged french people crowded around the TV in the living room drinking champagne and watching their friend race around South Africa. The team’s chances were looking bleak until right at the end when they had a stroke of luck and took the lead, just in time to win. The guests didn’t leave until 1am, so 7:15 came tres early this morning. Also, the WiFi was out last night for several hours last night and we had a heck of a time getting it to come back on…luckily I had the French crowd to entertain me while I was incommunicado to the rest of the world. Class was good today, but long. Tuesdays and Thursdays always are. Luckily my teachers understand and we take breaks halfway through each class to move around and have a snack. After class I stopped at La Poste to get stamps, then came home and read for a while and fell asleep for about an hour before dinner. Augusta just came in my room, shivering… she and her friend were outside splashing around in the pool. It’s 10:30pm and about 50 degrees outside, and it’s been raining all day. Like I said before, she’s a little crazy. I can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already, my second week in Pau has flown by. The USAC group is going to the Basque country and to the beach on Saturday, I hope it’s nicer then than it was today and yesterday. On the bright side (no pun intended), I am beginning to conquer my irrational fear of precipitation. I walked to and from the bus stop today in the rain sans umbrella and didn’t flail or run or squeal at all. Time to get ready for bed and read for my Haiti class.

MDCV!

(Merci a Dieu c’est (presque) vendredi)

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.

Voila, photos pour ma petite amie!

-Alex

Ah, WiFi woes. Augusta told me today that I shouldn’t think of France as a place where the internet doesn’t work…she said there do exist places in the hexagon where the WiFi is reliable and the connection is strong, though not here. Oh well, it could be worse. I had Skype working without interruption for over half an hour today, so that’s quite an accomplishment! Maybe it’s getting better?

Tomorrow I’m going to a spa with USAC. I am getting the impression it is less a spa in the traditional American sense, and more a place with various heated pools and baths. Regardless, it sounds great. I can always use some time in a hot tub. I think I left my binder on the bus today, which is annoying but not the end of the world. I’ll see if it turns up, and if not, c’est la vie. This weekend I’m going with USAC to the Basque country, which is supposed to be beautiful. We’re leaving the university at 8:30am (on a Saturday!) but I don’t want to miss it, after all, how often am I in France? Also, I paid for it in my program costs so I figure I had better take advantage of it, and all of my USAC friends are going.

Time for bed, here’s to getting on a normal sleep cycle and adjusting to the time change!

p.s. Coming soon: photos! Alex has promised to look into posting my pictures on here, since I can’t figure out how to do it.

A demain!