'Ello Guvnah

Welllll cheers! Once again it's been a crazy two weeks. Let me start with the weekend trip the Furman group took to the Loire Valley. We had a very interesting (and testing) bike tour of the Loire Valley for a whole weekend. We first stopped in Blois to pick up our bikes and quickly set off, sans guide, on our three day tour of multiple chateaus and the French countryside. We got lost countless times, but the scenery was so beautiful. We were able to see amazing vineyards that ordinarily we wouldn't have seen had we taken a bus to each chateau. We hit a bit of a speed bump Friday afternoon when Victoria's bike got a flat tire, which turned out to be much more difficult to repair than we thought. We had been stopped for about an hour when it started pouring rain, so we went to the nearest house we saw to see if they could help. The nicest French man did the best he could to help, but we ended up having to call a car from the hotel to pick up the bike and one person while the rest of us road the rest of the way on our bikes in the pouring rain. It might sound miserable but it was actually a really fun time. It seems like nothing can make France ugly (except for the crazy thieves in Paris), especially the rain. During our weekend in the Loire Valley we saw Chambord, Amboise, Beauregard, and Chaumont-sur-Loire. They were all beautiful chateaus and it was great getting to see Chambord for a second time.

Last weekend was out first free weekend to travel wherever we wanted. I travelled to London, with five other girls from Furman, and it was a blast. I had never been to London before, but I absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back hopefully soon. Friday night we saw Wicked and it was AMAZING. It was my third time seeing it and I guess third time's the charm because it was the best performance I've seen. The British accents definitely helped because they make everything sound way cooler than it is. Saturday was a busy day that started with visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum. We spent about an hour and a half there, but unfortunately I stayed in one exhibit the whole time. They had a special exhibit dedicated to London fashion from the 17th century to modern day. It was incredibly interesting and it was so easy to spend all of my time there that I wasn't able to see the other exhibits. After that we had lunch and then visited Kensington Palace (nothing compared to Versailles :)), walked past Buckingham, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and got beer in a little pub. We then set off to find a supposedly delicious fish and chips place, got very lost, and just went into the first restaurant we saw because we were all starving and exhausted. We spent Sunday morning in Richmond, right outside of London, and walked around and did some shopping (but not too much, father :)). Overall it was a great weekend, although not very restful, but we're young and can rally pretty well!

Yesterday we started our two week tour of France at 7 in the morning (yikes) and driving to Orléans, which is the town that Jean d'Arc from the English. It was great getting to see a town that's so different from Versailles. We ate lunch in Orléans and then drove to Poitiers to spend the night. This morning we woke up bright and early to tour Poitiers a little bit. Now we are in La Rochelle for the rest of today and tonight and tomorrow we head to Bordeaux. I'm so excited for Bordeaux because they have some of the best wine in France! If the rest of Toussaint continues like this, I'll be a happy camper because we're eating delicious food and seeing a lot of really historic and interesting places. Until next time!

Bringing the South to France, y'all

First of all, I never say y'all (it's always you all), but I deemed it appropriate for this post. Last night I decided to finally make cornbread for my French family! I figured even if they didn't enjoy it, I could eat all of it myself and feel kind of like I was home. Before leaving home for Versailles I bought a packaged cornbread mix from Completely Kentucky so I could easily bring the south to France. Unfortunately easy is definitely not always better; my mom's homemade (gluten-free) cornbread is soooo much better than the packaged kind (shout out to Pam!). However, my French family seemed to enjoy it considering they ate all of it! Unfortunately I ended up leaving the oven on (a thing I do even when I'm home in Kentucky) so my French dad was not too pleased with that. At least I tried! The next item on my list of delicious things to make is my mom's chocolate pie. You could say I'm pretty nervous about 1. ruining the pie and 2. burning the house down in the process, but fingers crossed everything runs smoothly.

apple cider from Normandy-DELISH

The past two weeks have been crazy! We've been super busy and time is seriously flying by. Within the past two weeks we have visited the château and gardens of Versailles, gone to the Louvre, visited many WWII monuments and special places in Normandy, visited Mont Saint Michel, we saw the Bayeux Tapestry, visited Claude Monet's house and gardens in Giverny, visited l'Hôtel des Invalides, and had classes and homework to fit in there as well. Plus, we have to do all of this while speaking French.

Honestly it can become quite frustrating and it's definitely tiring, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's still hard to me to believe that I'm in France, let alone that I have been here for a month. Since coming to France in high school, I couldn't wait to come back. The places we visit are amazing and they are places that many people won't have to opportunity to see. It's incredible how many sites we'll see in the course of three months.

This past weekend was full of beautiful sites. First thing Saturday morning we visited Pointe du Hoc-the area where the Germans prepared an "Atlantic Wall" of defenses against Allied invasion. The cliffs and beaches were beautiful. We visited Omaha Beach-one of the beaches of the landings of the Allied invasion-after Pointe du Hoc and before the American Cemetery of WWII soldiers. The cemetery was one of the most breathtaking places I've ever been. If anyone reading this ever comes to France, they must visit the American Cemetery. It was a pretty heavy morning, considering American soldiers had fought and lost their lives exactly where we had stood. Fortunately, Sunday we visited Claude Monet's house and gardens which made for a much lighter mood!

the view from Pointe du Hoc

Omaha Beach

American Cemetery

Monet's house and gardens come in a close second to the various WWII sites in Normandy in terms of beauty. The flowers were absolutely beautiful, and we even saw the bridge and water lilies that were the centerpieces for many of Monet's paintings. His house was actually pretty normal, but the kitchen was amazing. It was a blue and yellow theme, which sounds kind of overwhelming, but it was awesome. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside of his house, so you'll just have to trust me how cool his kitchen was.

THE BRIDGE

ooooh ahhhhh

I've had my fill of really embarrassing and awkward moments since I arrived a month ago, but after encountering a woman at l'Hôtel des Invalides, I feel a little more comfortable about my awkward moments. We were following our tour guide around Napoleon's tomb and a woman walks up to our guide and asks him where Napoleon is. The tour guide stops for a moment and in broken English tells her that it's the red tomb to her right. The woman then continues to ask how she can see Napoleon and the guide responds (again in broken English) that he is inside of the red rock. Then the woman asks where the stairs are to go see Napoleon and finally another student and I explain that Napoleon is inside of the tomb and there is no way to get inside with him. It was quite an amusing situation.

This weekend we're heading off to Loire for a grand tour on bikes! We go from hotel to hotel on our bikes all day. We get to have another wine tasting as well as a cookie/biscuit tasting (good thing we'll be forced to do physical activity all weekend). The countryside should be really beautiful and the weather looks like it's going to cooperate as well! Until next week, y'all.

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's necessary simply to love." -Claude Monet

flowers from Monet's garden

Excuse My French but I'm in France

Well I have been in France now for a week and it has become significantly less frightening, although I still get super nervous speaking French to my family (even though I shouldn't because they're very helpful).

I can't believe all that we've done in one short week. Last Thursday we went to Paris for 4 nights and did more walking than I've done in my whole life combined and saw some incredible places and monuments, did some shopping (unfortunate for Joseph since he's the only guy on the trip), and ate some amazing food (who knew foie gras sauce could be so amazing??). However, I am very happy to be back in Versailles with my French family. I am not so happy about having to start classes, but our professors seem really interesting and are kind enough to speak slowly!

Today was a really busy and exciting day because after our civilization class we had lunch at the house of one of our professor's, Madame Chauchat. She is actually from America but married a French man and has lived here ever since (my dream...). We then went to la maison de parfums and got to smell a TON of French perfume, which  kind of gave me a headache but also made me want to buy some perfume called "La petite robe noire" or little black dress in English. Honestly, what girl doesn't want perfume called little black dress? After that we went to a restaurant called Monument Cafe and tried almost all of the desserts France is known for including les macarons, les choquettes, les petites madeleines, les beignets, and a lot of French candy. This was seriously any girl's perfect afternoon and I loved it.

Unfortunately and fortunately (but mostly fortunately) all of the food here is amazing and I eat all of it all of the time, which means I have to do some sort of physical activity. Today's physical activity including going for my first run in Versailles and it just happened to be next to a field of sheep and goats. I almost felt like I was back in Kentucky. Then I got home and my little French brother, Stan, gave me a cookie so that kind of canceled out my run, but at least I tried.

So far my time in France has been so amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better trip. I'm sure it will continue to get better!

"Voice mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le couer. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yuex."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince

Culture Shock

The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. This definition that I quickly found on Google is the perfect description of my feelings when leaving the Maasai boma we visited right outside of Ngorongoro crater. The visit started off with a traditional welcome song that was performed by the men and women of the boma. The performance consisted of the men grunting and jumping while the women sang. I really enjoyed this part of the visit because to me it seemed very genuine and traditional. Once the welcoming part of the visit was finished we were taken into the boma and to the kindergarten school where the boys and girls were separated down the middle. It was hilarious to see how clean the little girls were compared to the little boys. Once we all were in the "school" the children sang songs and counted to 50 in English for us. After that we were taken by pairs into different houses by a Maasai man. He quickly explained to Nick and me how the houses were made and the few functions the houses had. We were then quickly taken outside and strongly encouraged to buy beaded jewelry made by the Maasai women. Upon leaving the Maasai boma I began feeling more and more confused about what I had just experienced. I was very appreciative that the Maasai were willing to open their homes to us and to show us a small part of their lives, but it all seemed like a rehearsed show rather than their actual lives. I felt as if we were invading their privacy. I could only imagine how I would feel if people were paying money to come into my home just to take pictures while I danced and showed them around. After I talked to some of the other students I realized that most of us seemed to be feeling pretty confused. Later that night all of the students, our two professors, and one of the drivers, Julius (who is a Maasai warrior), sat around a fire to talk about what we had taken away from the Maasai boma visit. I came into the talk feeling very shocked with how and where the Maasai live, but Dr. Beymer-Farris made an excellent point that there are most likely many aspects of American culture that would probably be very shocking to the Maasai people. Honestly while I was in the boma I had never stopped to even think about how the Maasai would react if they came to America to see how I live. They probably wouldn't be able to comprehend our large (in comparison to their huts) houses and trivial accessories that we think of necessities. Neither way of living is better than the other; it's simply how we each grew up. Visiting the boma was difficult not only because of how different it initially seemed from the culture I'm used to, but also because the Maasai people seemed more like entertainers putting on a show for tourists so that we would buy their jewelry instead of people who wanted to teach us about their rich culture and history. I went into the visit very curious about their everyday practices and struggles, but I left instead with three bracelets and more confusion. Dr. Suresh pointed out that because the Maasai are no longer allowed to live in the Serengeti and their expenses are increasing dramatically, they must find new ways to survive and tourism is a very big part of the Tanzanian economy. The particular Maasai boma we visited had to pay $400 every two weeks to get the water they needed for the whole community. Although the visit seemed more like a rehearsed show than an educational opportunity, I now have a better understanding of why they must do that. In order to survive the Maasai must adapt to a changing environment. Just like some of us felt like intruders, some of the Maasai might not enjoy having foreigners constantly coming into their homes. This was the first time I have truly understood what culture shock feels like. From it I've learned that when going into any new culture it is imperative to keep an open mind and to also think critically about what is happening. While I learned many things during this May Experience, I know that going to the Maasai boma was the greatest learning experience I had. I know that the visit and what I took away from it will stay with me for a very long time.