Early Saturday morning I woke up and drove with my host mother for an hour to Toulouse. From Toulouse all the other students and I rode on a charter bus to our picnic location that over looked the town of Cahors (picutred here). We all stayed at a youth hostel in Cahors. A chef made our dinner and it was fantastic. We had bread and salad as a first course, potato and meat stew for the second course, and baked apples with honey and almonds for dessert. It was really good! Since I am on the topic of food I might as well add that all French cuisine is fabulous. I have never met a food here that I didn't think was top notch. French chocolate is probably the one reason why I might gain the foreign exchange student weight. It is SO good. Almost every meal here includes chocolate. Chocolate in the cereal, Nutella on toast, chocolate mousse with lunch, chocolate pudding or regular chocolate for dessert is like a dream come true for a chocolate lover like me! Oh have I mentioned the "Chocolatines?" They are croissants filled with chocolate. Some mornings I get to have one of those for breakfast! All in all the food here is excellent!
Alright, more about my weekend in Cahors.We went on a tour of the town in a little train that goes around the city and Sunday afternoon we went canoeing on the Dardogne river. The Dardogne river is so pretty and its very calm. Mountains are on either side and there are caves in the mountains that canoes can go into. After canoeing we went to a beautiful chateau that is owned by a Rotarian. The chateau is their house and it is a hotel. Guests to the hotel are flown in on helicopter and they land on the landing pad on the roof! The chateau and the grounds surrounding it are beautiful.
Yes I have not written for awhile but I have a reason! The day I went canoeing, everyone swam in the water and I was the only one to get a severe eye infection from it. Lucky me! After three days of missing school, two hospital visits, and a few calls from my worried mother, I am back to normal and I got to go to school Thursday and Friday.
School is getting easier for me. I think I am starting to understand what is happening in the classes a little bit better. Unfortunatly understanding the class means that the teacher now thinks I can do the homework and understand it. WRONG! I am trying my best, but learning a language takes time and patience.At school I have some wonderful friends who are always helping me. My friend Antoine is very good at breaking down what the teacher says into easier French so that I can understand it. He is also really good at speaking English if I seriously don't understand something. Everyone in my class is very supportive and they are all very helpful.
An expression I hear often in my house right now is "Tres francais!" That means "Very French!" This phrase has been used to describe food, clothing, school, and upcoming events. In October one of my family's friends is getting married and my host family thinks it would be "Very French" and so I should go. I also have been invited to go hunting with my host family at their cabin in the woods. I think I will think about that and get back to them shortly. I am not so keen on trapsing through woods holding a gun in a country that I am just starting to get to know. We will see!
Well thats all that has been happening here recently! I hope you all in the US are doing well! Don't be afraid to email me.I love hearing from all of you. Thank you for reading my blog!
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