I've been meaning to update for so long. It's awful. But these past few weeks have been a blur. It was just November. good lord. And now it's like almost halfway through December. And nine days until Christmas. Today, every time I left a store, they left me with 'Happy Holidays!!' and it made me SO happy. I also saw a bus drive by today, that had garlands draped over the windows(I wasn't on it, unfortunately. But it was the 22, which is fantastic - I think that that is the best bus line. Definitely the most cheery. It makes my day most of the times I take it. And I will miss its awful, awful - not even trying to uphold the stereotype - female drivers). It blows my mind, and to prove my point, I've probably said that like 60 times today alone. Meryl, my very very good friend, came in on Sunday so we've just been hangin out all week. Finals have been passing quickly, which is lovely - especially since the preparation for them almost killed me. Studying was so painful, because we were all stuck in the school together, staring at the same information over and over. Also, I learned that if you try to keep a group of five or more fairly homesick college students that have been away from home for 4 months focused for more than, oh, 45 minutes at best - you have your work cut out for you. It does not work. We have far too much else to talk about - packing stories, some people dreading their awful layovers and others bragging about their direct flights (that's me haha), discussing how exactly we're going to say our goodbyes to our host families (I don't think there will be words for how amazing they have been. That part is going to be pretty tough), and also just how insanely excited we are - or most of us are - to be going back to everything "normal" - things like wearing my slippers around the house and eating things out of the fridge and driving. I can't WAIT to drive! Though I can wait for the cold and snow (it got to freezing here, and I'm dying. It's -5 Celsius...but -5 Fahrenheit at home).
Anyway - I haven't told stories about my past excitements. My mommy's visit, first of all, was absolutely wonderful. Seeing her was just so exciting, and kindof shocking but really nice at the same time. It was really really fun to show her my new "world" here, that is Nantes and France in general. Not that it's MINE or anything, but it's just an aspect that only she - and meryl- will know from home. So it was really great that she could see that, and share it with me. We also had a fantastic time just hanging out, meeting my host family, doing some shopping (LOTS of shopping haha) and lots of sightseeing as well.
Thanksgiving was really fun too, and also nice to have a family member here to share it with. The program, along with the Franco-American Association of Nantes put it on for us, and it was a very nice gesture and really well done. This being France, there aren't many structures that hold not only all 90 of us in the program, but a good portion of the host families, the IES staff, and the members of the Association as well. Therefore, we were in the middle of nowhere, way the heck out in one of the suburbs...but easy enough to get to, and a fairly nice restaurant. We shared "les boissons d'amitie" - drinks of friendship, definitely a favorite term I've learned - to start off with, and then had to strategically plan the seating arrangement. In the end, we had Leah and I with my mom, and both her parents, plus Ruth and Hannah and some of Leah's host fam/host fam friends at the table. It was a great mix, and we had very pleasant conversation. It was just such a nice vibe, with everyone (all the students included) dressed up for the dinner, and in a new and exciting setting that wasn't a classroom....a highly enjoyable evening was had by all, topped off with some really impressive musical displays by some of the kids. We had a great sing-along to "La Vie en Rose" the classic by Edith Piaf. It was all very lovely, and was a memorable and highly appropriate way to celebrate the day.
The following Saturday, we left for Paris wayyyyy early. After fighting with the cab company, the driver finally came and picked us up and proceeded to hit on me as could probably be expected of a French taxi driver at 6 a.m. Obviously. Then, we arrived at about 9, found our hotel at about 10 and then started our one day of Paris right away. We went down to the Champs Elysses, and then headed up the Arc de Triomphe, then we trekked across (what felt like) the entire city to find the Longchamp store which was probably really unecessary but quite fun. Then we headed back to recouperate in the hotel room for a while and took off again for the Eiffel Tower and dinner. We couldn't go all the way up because there was "too much wind"....pshhhh it wasn't really that windy (in fact, it was absolutely terrifying just on the second level of the tower. On the Eastern-facing side, we literally had to hold on to the railing.) It was gorgeous though, and I think it was worth it. Dinner was pretty sweet too, at a nice cozy Italian place, AND we got to see the insane light show that happens every Saturday night, apparently. It was pretty great. The trip to the airport the next day was pretty uneventful, except for the inevitable confusion that is Charles deGaulle, and then I hopped back on the train to come back to Nantes.
So that was Paris trip #1. Paris trip #2 was the following weekend (how lucky am I, that I got to be in the city of lights twice in a week, and then I get to go to London, one of the other major cities of the world, within a week after that!?) with my host sister, Marie. Well, I shouldn't say WITH because that implies togetherness. I actually showed up there a day after she had, because she is applying for internships and had a bunch of interviews (which she has actually heard back from since, and has decided to accept the offer made by 'Elle' - as in, the magazine - to be their exhibition designer. How awesome is that?) and then she told me to just hang out for a while and meet her at this metro stop at this time...which worked out well, and I was so proud of myself! Thinking about how much I would have freaked out about following those instructions before living in Washington, DC last summer, and even before this semester (when I landed, I had to get on a bus and meet a friend for the first night and beforehand, I was TERRIFIED) sort of cracks me up now. I used to get really nervous and anxious about trying to figure out public transportation, whereas now I know that "Oh, if I get on the wrong line, I can probably just turn around and take it back to the station where I started from and find the right one..." which is a wonderful revelation to have had, believe me.
ANYWAY. I met up with Marie, finally, and her boyfriend Max (I won't talk about how wonderfully attractive he is here, because she'll probably read this haha) and we went to some dinner at a fairly chic Parisian resto, called the "Metropolitain," which the group of them obviously frequented, and called "le Metrop" which sounded hilariously French and made me feel somewhat out of place, but I went with it. But it was really fun - I ended up talking about West Wing with one of the guys, who I found out owns a castle, and it was nice and pleasant - and a pleasant evening. The next day was Versailles, which I voyaged to by myself, which was quite the adventure, and met up with some of my friends who were also in Paris for the weekend. We did the castle, and the gardens which were absolutely gorgeous, but totally overwhelming and ridiculous at the same time. The exhibit that was there, on the life of Louis XIV was hilarious; he was one of the most self-centered people ever. But at the same time, he did a lot of amazing things for the world of art and fashion and all that - he invented the high heel, believe it or not, because he wanted some way to better show off his sexy dancer's legs.
Then, after the castle, we headed back into the town of Versailles and got lunch and then I met back up with Marie and Max, who had driven out to spend the afternoon there with me. We walked around and explored - and I fell in love. For sure. The town itself is so cozy and quaint, and it had such a great feel to it. It was like it was this gorgeous town, but at the same time, it wasn't trying too hard to be special or anything. The fact that it's only 20 minutes out from Paris - the huge, huge, hugeness of Paris - and it can still manage this feat was even more endearing and I love it. But we just wandered, and Marie showed me the church my host parents were married in, and where she was baptized...and we went to the market, and just hung out...and then we went to visit my host grandmother as well. She lives in Versailles, but has severe alzheimer's, so she needs to be taken care of 24/7. She has a Portuguese lady who stays during the weeks, but then my host mom and her 3 siblings split the weekends. So host mommy was there for this weekend, and we got to see her too. It was really pleasant, and also really nice - it made me feel like they were really welcoming me into their family. I saw all the baby pictures and all that...I really enjoyed it, even though it was kindof sad too.
Then, we drove back in to town (which was AWESOME - we were driving along the Seine, and I just kept thinking, 'who DOES this?!?') and then I hopped on the metro to meet my friends up in Mont Martre, which is another great neighborhood. We got dinner, and then they were exhausted so I headed towards home. But it was only about 10:00, so I decided to take a walk...along the Seine, next to where all the Bateaux Mouches park, and then past the Eiffel Tower....it was amazing. I was thinking, "what does it take to be French? Because I'm pretty sure I've got it down fairly well." I loved it. And it was also nice to have some pure alone time, though I was in the middle of a huge crowd. I really enjoyed my time there.
The next day was Sunday, so I woke up and then headed down to the Sunday market that was nearby. It was solely food, so I didn't really get anything - except for a ton of photos, just of the colorfullness and the faces on the people that you can see. It's so fascinating to watch some 70 year old woman force her way through a crowd, just so she can get her roasted chicken and the freshest mushrooms. It is an experience, let me tell you. Then, I headed back to the wonderful family's house that we were staying with and helped them prepare lunch. But then, people started showing up and I realized that what we were getting ourselves into - it was a legitimate, huge family gathering: all her neices and nephews came, with their kids as well. There ended up beging about 15 people around the lunch table, all of whom were utterly confused as to why there was an American there, and I proceded to try and keep up with conversation, and then entertain myself with the 3 year olds. It was great fun, and very very authentically French. I loved it.
Then, we went and met up with Max again and went and did some visiting, and then some sightseeing which I think Marie felt was required. Then, I headed back to the station and back to Nantes - home sweet home! I think it was the most 'authentic' weekend I've had here, and it was absolutely fantastic.
As of now, I'm at school and the goodbyes have started as exams are ending and people are packing up and heading home. There's all kinds of different travel plans, and I feel like everyone has their own story to tell - as usual. But it's kindof nice, that we've gotten so close and are so sad to see each other go. Tomorrow is my last day in Nantes, and it will definitely be an interesting one. We'll see if the tears will come or not!!
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