Le Cycle de la Vie

SALUT TOUT LE MONDE!!! It is almost February, can you believe it ? I am so shocked that I am halfway through my journey here. I hope you have all passed wonderful winter days, and that January has been splendid.

SCHOOL: I just finished my first semester on Friday, and I feel so accomplished. My classes have been pretty good for the past few weeks, and I’ve noticed a lot of progress even in since the holidays. In my history class, we spent a few classes talking just barely scratching the surface of the Renaissance and the Reformation, and the history geek inside of me was dying. I’m still alive though, so that’s good ;) I feel like all of my exams went so well, and I’m really anxious to find out how I performed. The majority of my exams were rather difficult, but it was a really good chance for me to see how I’ve progressed and what I’ve retained. Of course, with it being the end of the semester, more students left to go back to their native countries, but I was more prepared to say goodbye this time to people. The next semester starts February 8, and I am going to have to take a writing exam to determine into which level I will place. I am so incredibly excited to start the new semester with new and exciting classes, and also to meet new students too. I have a few friends from Aquinas College who are studying here this semester, and I’m really excited to see them and hang out with them. Hopefully I’ll be able to show them around and we can explore different things in Angers, because there is a lot that is yet to be discovered by me in this city.

FRENCH FRIENDS: I am sadly not going to be getting together with my French friend Isabelle anymore. She had an interview for a job in Paris, and she received the post! I am so excited for her, and the company she works for has a great reputation worldwide, but I am going to miss the fun times she and I had. However, today I went to buy some train tickets and who do I see at the station…Isabelle! We were so surprised and she bought me a hot chocolate and we talked for about a half hour before she had to catch her train. It was great to see her, and hopefully we’ll be able to visit again before I go back to the states. I have a few more French friends though who I am hoping to start hanging out with once the new semester starts, so that will be a fun and new experience.

LES AQUARELLES: I really love the choir that I joined here in Angers. Right now, we have a Latin piece, a strange song called “Boogie Woogie Llanoogie,” a Chinese piece, a Gaelic song, “Le Cycle de la Vie” (The circle of life), “Hallelujah” (as heard in Shrek), and “Suo-gân.” This last one is also known as “A Welsch Lullaby,” and it seems that no matter where I go, I cannot escape this song. I’ve sung it twice in the United States, and now I’m singing it in France, but I am not ready to dominate, haha.

ADVENTURES! I am going to…. Ireland! I leave tomorrow morning and will be there until next Sunday! I will spend a couple days in Dublin with my friend Jessica (who is Irish), and then we’ll go to a little city called Glendalough, which is the town of my Irish ancestors. From there we’ll go to the Cliffs of Moher, and then she is going to Amsterdam and I am going to visit friends from Aquinas in Tully Cross. I am so excited to see old friends and to go on a vacation!

RANDOM HAPPENSTANCES: I went and saw Avatar, and even though the graphics were insanely awesome, I was a little disappointed in the lack of creativity in the storyline. But it was worth seeing, and I got to practice my French comprehension, for it was spoken in French and there were no subtitles. Next, I realized a tree that I thought was inhabited by birds is actually occupied by bats. When I realized this, I got so excited and it was really cool. My New Years Resolution to learn to cook is going well, and I’ve enjoyed my creations thus far. My friend Claudia came over yesterday and she taught me how to make some Brazilian cuisine, and that was actually really delicious. Last but definitely not least, I had my first dream in French this month! I woke up so excited when I realized what had happened.

This month has overall been a really big month in figuring out where my priorities are and what is important to me. Because my closest friends all left to go back to the US in December, this month has been filled with spending more time with new people. It’s been frustrating, because I have realized that for some, I am nothing more than someone that they want to try and change into someone else. I am here to learn French and embrace the French culture, not to be someone’s little social experiment. I know that I have high standards, that I am really old-fashioned about some things, and that I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I like it that way. My faith in God is the most important thing to me, and to walk away from my faith is not a change I ever want to make.

CHANSONS QUE J’AIME:

The Wonder of Your Love and I Will Exalt You, both by Hillsong. These are beautiful songs that really help me focus on the number one in my life.

VERSETS DE LA BIBLE:

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion.”

Psalm 100:5 “The Lord is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.”

PROVERBE FRANCAISE:

“Il n’y a qu’un bonheur du monde : d’aimer et d’être aimer.”

Hope you all have a wonderful Singles Awareness Day on the 14^th of February!! Or for those of you who find yourselves in a not-so-single condition, have a happy Valentine’s Day :)

Bonne Année!!!

Bonne Année! I can’t believe it’s 2010!! I hope everyone had such a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. Here is the latest with me:

For Christmas Break, I went with my host mom to a little French town called Caussade to stay with her daughter and son-in-law. After two hours of delays at various train stations, and a ride from a crazy taxi driver, we finally made it to Caussade. It was such a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of Angers. Caroline and Jean Gabriel (Béa’s daughter and son-in-law) live in the country, and there were rolling hills and farms all around us. Every evening I saw a beautiful sunset, and I could see the stars at night…it was really great. Caroline and Jean Gabriel are patissiers (bakers), and their baked goods are all made with BIO products, which is to say all ingredients that are eco-friendly. And oh my gosh, I had some amazing chocolate and cakes while we were with them! They also have a three-month-old son named Thomas Mael, and he was the cutest thing! I would talk to him in both French and English, and by the end of the week, everyone started saying “hey babe”or “awww sweetheart” in their French accents, haha. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were both spectacular, and I will never forget my holidays spent here. We had a lot of food, such as foie gras (duck liver), which is actually quite good, and some amazing Moroccan meals. I tried some wonderful cheeses and wines, and we all told fun Christmas stories and traditions. I got to explore some cities and towns in the area, and it was really interesting.

While I was in Caussade, I got to sleep a ton, and I think because of this, I had some rather bizarre dreams. I feel like sharing the most bizarre with you. I dreamt that we lived in a city that had a space station kind of attached, but for some reason it was being destroyed. While we were trying to evacuate the space station, I saw my love running inside to accomplish some grandiose feat, and he told me to keep going on and that he would make it. Well, the door ended up shutting like right behind me, and then the ship went away and blew up in the sky. I went back to my life but cried at losing my one true love. Then, it turns out he had escaped, and the dream ended with him finding me. How romantic, now if only I would find this boy outside of my subconscious, haha.

Béatrice and I returned to Angers on the 29^th, and of course it was raining when we stepped out of the train stations. Surprise, surprise. I got home and I had packages waiting for me from my family with Christmas gifts, and that was fun! The next day, I met my friend Claudia in the centre-ville and we went shopping for New Years outfits and whatever else we felt like we needed. I found some fantastic outfits, and I’m very excited to find occasions to wear what I bought. And from what I heard, there are huge sales in the middle of January, so that shall be grand.

And of course New Years happened, and what a good night! Claudia came over to my house to eat a New Years dinner with Béatrice, Yilan, and I, and after that we took a bunch of crazy pictures before meeting our friends downtown to ring in the New Year. We ended up meeting a bunch of friends at a bar called Klypso, which is perhaps frequented more by students from other countries than French people, which makes for a really fun atmosphere. There was music and a little dancing, and a French guy tried to dance with me, but I gracefully spun out of his arms, told him I didn’t like the song, and sat down. It was true, but it was also true that he was a little awkward. Other than that, we had fun with our fluorescent necklaces and sunglasses, and I was there with my friends til 4 in the morning. After that we went to my friend César’s house to chill a bit while we waited for buses to start up again. We eventually all got home, and now my sleep schedule is all screwed up. It was worth it though; I had such a fun time with my friends.

Since then, I have been lazy in my apartment, watching Christmas movies, doing homework, writing, and reading. Today I went walking around downtown for two hours or so, and that was a good time to reflect on things here. I have made it through December, and it was perhaps the best December of my life. Yes, it was lacking in some very important people from home, but the experiences I had were once in a lifetime and so much better than I ever would have imagined. God is so amazing, and my faith in him is growing stronger and stronger. I have 5 months left. Or you could say 23 weeks. Or 161 days. However you look at it, my time is going by so incredibly fast, and I’m totally living it up!

Love you all so much, and I can’t wait to hug you all when I come home! Can’t guarantee I’ll be able to write anytime soon, because exams are here in a few weeks. Until then, adieu!!

Psalm 73:28 “But as for me, it is good to be near God.” Simple, but could not be more true.