Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Betton
I am now with my first family, les Allais....they live in a very nice house about 15 minutes from the center of Rennes, in Betton. The parents own a liquor store/pub and they have two boys who live at home, ages 19 and 21. Maxence (who is 19) took me yesterday to to get a bus pass that will last me the year and to try to find a cell phone I can use here that will be less expensive than my current one from the U.S. He drives a smart car and works at a sushi shop in Rennes :D He also has a girlfriend who is very nice and who has helped to show me around a bit....Rennes is pretty big! It is very different living with this family, so it might take me a while to adjust again...the parents don't come home from work until very late at night, and the boys often go out in the evening to clubs and bars. They also smoke in the house, which I am definitely not used to. It is so weird for me, because it seems like EVERYONE in France smokes....especially the teenagers. Almost everyone I have met so far who is my age or a little older/younger smokes! So I am currently sleeping with my window open....Next week I start school at St.Vincent, a large private school in Rennes. Here, the students each have a sort of "path" they take in school that focuses on specific subjects. I am in "S", which is kind of unfortunate because it focuses mostly on math and science, and I prefer languages and history :P Oh well....it's going to be hard, but I am very excited to meet new people!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Recap of the Week :)
So my first week is almost over...here are some of the things I did:
-I went to the coast yesterday, which was about a 40-minute drive. It was beautiful, but the water was VERY COLD! I went swimming anyway ;) We stayed there for a couple hours and had a picnic
-I discovered that riding a bike in the city may not be the best thing for me to do ;P My host mom took me to the post office (about 5 minutes away on a bike), and I was scared to death! I ran into the back of a bus...and this was the laugh of my host family for the past three days ;P But seriously, the brakes did not work at all :/ I think I'll just walk next time....
-I went to a Catholic mass at the cathedral in Rennes...I didn't understand anything at all, but it was really cool to be in such an old church
-I went to the biggest market in France (I think, if I understood correctly)-- in Rennes-- on Saturday morning. It was amazing! There was so much food....we bought mussels there for lunch (which I have never tried before) and I loved them :D
-I was invited to one of my host sister's friends' home yesterday to have crepes for a snack...yum ;)
Tonight I am switching host families because the other ones were on vacation....It's gonna be a little hard, because it has taken a while to adjust to this one, but oh well :P
Claire
-I went to the coast yesterday, which was about a 40-minute drive. It was beautiful, but the water was VERY COLD! I went swimming anyway ;) We stayed there for a couple hours and had a picnic
-I discovered that riding a bike in the city may not be the best thing for me to do ;P My host mom took me to the post office (about 5 minutes away on a bike), and I was scared to death! I ran into the back of a bus...and this was the laugh of my host family for the past three days ;P But seriously, the brakes did not work at all :/ I think I'll just walk next time....
-I went to a Catholic mass at the cathedral in Rennes...I didn't understand anything at all, but it was really cool to be in such an old church
-I went to the biggest market in France (I think, if I understood correctly)-- in Rennes-- on Saturday morning. It was amazing! There was so much food....we bought mussels there for lunch (which I have never tried before) and I loved them :D
-I was invited to one of my host sister's friends' home yesterday to have crepes for a snack...yum ;)
Tonight I am switching host families because the other ones were on vacation....It's gonna be a little hard, because it has taken a while to adjust to this one, but oh well :P
Claire
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
My second host family!
The mom is on the right, the dad is taking the picture, and the woman on the left is my Rotarian counselor here, Anne. The three girls in the middle are my host sisters! :D
Je suis ici!
Hey everyone!
I am finally up to writing for the first time in France ;) It was a VERY exhausting trip getting here, but well worth the while. I left my house for the airport at about 7:30 on Tuesday morning, then took my first plane to Charlotte, NC at 10:30 AM (where I had a three-hour layover). Then I had an eight-hour flight to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, arriving in France-time at 7:00 AM. Then (the very-not-so-fun part) I was shuttled to a nearby hotel to wait for all the other kids going to Brittany (18) until 3:30 PM....we literally sat for almost nine hours all staring into space, trying to stay awake. And THEN, we had a lovely 4-hour bus trip to drop everyone off at different locations in Brittany. Okay, now the bad part is over ;) I was met in Rennes (the capital of Brittany and place where I am staying) by my second host family, which I was not expecting. Apparently my first family is still vacationing in the south of France for another week ;P This host family has three girls, ages 13, 15, and 17, and they are all very nice :) So they brought me to their house and I had my first French dinner: Salad, homemade bread, roasted chicken, peach tart, and chocolate chip cookies (made especially for me by the youngest girl, Lucy ;) ) YUM! ;) :D But then they wanted me to stay up so that I could get on a normal schedule...not my most excited moment. I finally went to sleep at 11:30 PM......and then slept till half past noon! Today was a nice day....Mathilde (the oldest girl) showed me around Rennes (it's a beautiful city!), I watched a French movie, and then was treated to a very fancy dinner with some of the Rotarians here at a restaurant called "Paris New York"....we had many different courses, including an "Amuse-bouche" (meaning "mouth amusement" if literally translated) which was some sort of asparagus cream with three teeny brown dots and a little dot of cut up vegetables. Then there was the l'entree (which actually means the appetizer in French)...it was a square of some kind of really tender beef, topped with a tiny bit of lettuce and served with eggplant caviar puree. And then was the main dish (Le plat principal)--Salmon topped with what I think was pancetta in a soup-like mixture of lots of olive oil and tomatoes. Next was dessert....a fresh peach and apple streusel with ice cream. And then coffee and tea. And then the "mini-desserts", which were little cakes with mango. Yes....I am full ;) ;) :P And now very tired too, so "bonne-nuit" (Goodnight!!)
-Claire
I am finally up to writing for the first time in France ;) It was a VERY exhausting trip getting here, but well worth the while. I left my house for the airport at about 7:30 on Tuesday morning, then took my first plane to Charlotte, NC at 10:30 AM (where I had a three-hour layover). Then I had an eight-hour flight to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, arriving in France-time at 7:00 AM. Then (the very-not-so-fun part) I was shuttled to a nearby hotel to wait for all the other kids going to Brittany (18) until 3:30 PM....we literally sat for almost nine hours all staring into space, trying to stay awake. And THEN, we had a lovely 4-hour bus trip to drop everyone off at different locations in Brittany. Okay, now the bad part is over ;) I was met in Rennes (the capital of Brittany and place where I am staying) by my second host family, which I was not expecting. Apparently my first family is still vacationing in the south of France for another week ;P This host family has three girls, ages 13, 15, and 17, and they are all very nice :) So they brought me to their house and I had my first French dinner: Salad, homemade bread, roasted chicken, peach tart, and chocolate chip cookies (made especially for me by the youngest girl, Lucy ;) ) YUM! ;) :D But then they wanted me to stay up so that I could get on a normal schedule...not my most excited moment. I finally went to sleep at 11:30 PM......and then slept till half past noon! Today was a nice day....Mathilde (the oldest girl) showed me around Rennes (it's a beautiful city!), I watched a French movie, and then was treated to a very fancy dinner with some of the Rotarians here at a restaurant called "Paris New York"....we had many different courses, including an "Amuse-bouche" (meaning "mouth amusement" if literally translated) which was some sort of asparagus cream with three teeny brown dots and a little dot of cut up vegetables. Then there was the l'entree (which actually means the appetizer in French)...it was a square of some kind of really tender beef, topped with a tiny bit of lettuce and served with eggplant caviar puree. And then was the main dish (Le plat principal)--Salmon topped with what I think was pancetta in a soup-like mixture of lots of olive oil and tomatoes. Next was dessert....a fresh peach and apple streusel with ice cream. And then coffee and tea. And then the "mini-desserts", which were little cakes with mango. Yes....I am full ;) ;) :P And now very tired too, so "bonne-nuit" (Goodnight!!)
-Claire
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