Mountains and Fountains

yummy fondue

I’ve realized there’s nothing that clears my head better than a run.  I love it.  I love running in the wilderness with no watch and no concept of time.  Simply running until I don’t feel like it anymore.  This morning, it was pouring rain.  The first “bad” weather we’ve had since I’ve been here.  I love the feeling of being warm and having the cold rain stream down your body.  It was a great start to my day. 

On my run I came across so many thoughts.  My head was filled with stream of consciousness about everything I’m learning from being in France.  I thought a lot about the language and how excited I am to get to a higher level of French.  I’ve decided to major in English at school because I love the challenge of trying to figure out how to write exactly what you want to say.  Words all have different undertones and it’s so fun to try and put words, phrases, paragraphs together to create a coherent piece of writing that has a distinct vibe attached to it.  Right now, I am at the point of French where I do not understand enough about the structure of sentences to play with the words and create writing that has my own flair.  It is the same with speaking; I cannot quite get across the meaning I want to when I talk.  It’s frustrating but I love the challenge.  It’s been amazing to be here and strictly work on French all the time.  At Bowdoin, it was great because I was finally making progress because of the intensity of the French program.  But this experience, here in France, is exactly what I’ve always wanted what I’ve needed to get to the level where I want to be. 

Being here has also helped me understand about how crucial it is to have family in your life and how much I love my own family.  Most of Nicole and Robert’s children live within 15 minutes to their house.  Their grandchildren often come over to play and Nicole’s now older children come to help her with chores and just chat.  I just love the feeling here – the family comes over and gives kisses on the cheeks and have a great time relaxing, chatting, and helping out around the house.  It reminds me how close distance wise all my relatives are at home.  I think with my family’s new move to southern Maine, I’m beginning to realize how much I took that for granted.  Having my family surround me for my entire life is a privilege that not everyone has.  I’ve always inherently felt a very strong connection to both my immediate family and my extended family but could describe it or fully understand that connection enough to put it into words.  Seeing my host family’s interactions has made this connection much clearer to me.  It’s still hard to describe, but I’m beginning to understand it more and hope I can take back what I’ve learned back to the states.  I want to appreciate these ties more and keep them prevalent in my life.  Much love to Tommy, Minal, dad and mom J

I’m also so thankful for my friends.  Reading Hannah’s blog helped me come to this realization about family, because she has had a similar experience in Argentina.  And talking to Macy this weekend helped me figure out/ overcome some of the obstacles I’ve been facing here in France.  She didn’t even realize how much a casual 10 minute chat on skype helped me.   Having such close friends just brings me such happiness every day.  I think about each of my friends a lot – especially during my two hours of commute every day.  My friends and family are such rocks in my life.  They push me to think and help me get through every obstacle I face in my life.  And best of all they are always with me, in my heart and in my mind.  I’m just so appreciative of them and where my life has taken me thus far. 

As for this weekend – plans took a 180 degree turn because of the weather.  The trip to Chamonix was canceled and Molly and I decided not to go hiking in a thunderstorm.  So, Friday, we ate some Chinese food and then went to good ol’ London Pub.  It was cool to see how “Chinese food” varies between countries.  I had chicken curry and white rice – which was more similar to Indian food than Chinese in the states. 

This weekend was the “Le patrimoine francais” so a bunch of stuff was going on in Grenoble – including free visits to all the museums.  Yesterday, I slept in till noon and then met up with Greg and JeeSol for lunch at a delicious creperie.  Then we went to the church of Notre Dame and accidentally walked in on a wedding, which there are so many of in September in Grenoble!  When a wedding ends, here, everyone follows the bride and groom and honks their horns for what feels like forever.  After watching the ceremony for a bit, we toured the museum connected to the church which was super cool because the remains of a destroyed chateau lie in the basement.  Apparently it was destroyed as a result of disagreements between the Protestants and Catholics back in the day.  Then we checked out the Palais de Justice where we got to tour the parliament building and wander around a craft fair.  My personal favorite artist was a guy who was making guitars.  It was super neat to see how the pieces of wood are carved out and put together!

It was a rainy day yesterday too, so after touring we found a café to hang out at until the group was ready to meet up for dinner.  It was perfect.  Molly and I both got tea and man did it hit the spot.  Perfect thing to do on a rainy day.  I still can’t get over how slow the pace of life is here.  It’s great to just hang out and chat all day. 

Yesterday afternoon we all decided to speak French the whole day.  It was great to force ourselves to do this.  When Adam was explaining the history of the ruined chateau, it got a little confusing to understand but we made it through.  I could even feel myself thinking in French at the end of the afternoon!

Then, the group decided to eat at a Fondue place.  We got two bottles of wine and three pots of melted cheese into which we dipped bread, chicken, and mashed potatoes into them.  So good and so heavy.  Mmmmmmmmm.  On the way home, Emma and I had a total bonding session on the tram ride home.  Good times.

A few other random thoughts:  Mountains and Fountains = Grenoble.  Both are everywhere.  Elita, Molly, Emma and I have the most wonderful connection with pre-teen fantasy series.  Tamara Pierce all the way.  Friday we went to a bar called Plan B that had shots called Abortion and Tabernakle.  Politically incorrect in every way possible.  After saying “toss over” and no one understanding what I meant, I realized county slang is not American slang.  Meals are SO late here.  I got back from dinner at 11 last night.  That would never happen at Bowdoin.  I have two goals for the week – find a spot at a café to do work and talk more with French natives.

Sending love and bons souhaits to all!

chilling in the park

COOKIES

random wedding at Notre Dame

remains of the chateau

My fav artist

floor of the parliament building

inner courtyard/ parking lot? of the parliament building

sweet stairwell

Me, Emma, Molly and the BEAUTIFUL fountain

TEAAAA