Strikes

Well, what have I been up to the last few days? Lots!

In this past school week there have been so many strikes. Especially the young people, who like to join a cause and rebel just for the heck of it I think, the college students are more likely to be interested in WHY they are striking, but the high schoolers, just want to break stuff.

So, on Thursday, I ran a bunch of errands, went to class, felt productive, then Chelsea and I were going to try and get her some groceries, but the trams had stopped running coming to our stop because of a disturbance that had happened at the previous stop, the one in front of the main campus. So we walked down there to see what happened. CHAOS. High schoolers had come down and burned massive piles of trash and trash cans (meaning melted rubber) on the tracks making it impossible to bypass. The cops with their turtle armor and shields were there and a pane of glass on the tram stop had been shattered. I think we were about 15 minutes or 20 minutes too late to see the real action because no one was fighting or anything, just the police keeping a perimeter around the damage. So we just watched for like 10 minutes haha. We ran into our French friend and chatted with her for a while. (She said my French as greatly improved!) After, Chelsea and I were going to go to this Pop Rock Choir Concert thing, but it was cancelled because of the strikes :( So I watched some French films instead :) so relaxing.

Friday was a beautiful day and so after class, we decided to go shopping in town for a bit with Genesis! I actually only got a scarf and headband, but it was nice walking around. I was looking for Converse, who knows if I’ll ever find them, and did not succeed... After that, we went our own ways to chill for the evening, and I got back to my room ready to just relax, clean and the like. I don't know if I’ve talked about my neighbor yet, but she came by the other night and told me how she is learning English and is having a difficult time in her class! I told her I would love to help her whenever she wants, and so that was nice to be able to meet her. We see each other all the time in the kitchen, so now it isn't just an awkward "Bonjour” or "Bon Appétit" hah. She is from Guinea? Not sure, a country in Africa. Anyway, last night she came by my room to see if I had a skillet because she was frying fish, however the only one that Noelle and I have was in Noelle's room, and it did not work with the specialized burners in our Dorm. Later, I went in the kitchen to wash some things, and I commented how her cooking smelled good and she replied that she would let me try some when it was finished! I was excited and went back to my room to prepare my own dinner to cook. Well in like 1/2 an hour she came to my door with a complete plate of food! HOLY COW. It was beautiful. I was stunned, how generous and nice of her! I thanked her and pretty much just stared at it in my room because I was in such awe. Wow. IT was a piece of fried fish, caramelized onions, fresh onions, fresh tomato, fresh cucumber, and little bit of spicy mayonnaise beautifully arranged on a plate! (Pic at bottom). And it was so delicious. I don't think I've ever eaten a piece of fish completely to the bone before, but I did. Anyway. I watched Shawshank Redemption in French, and then slept wonderfully with the plan that Chelsea and I would go to Mont-Saint-Michel on Saturday!

Well, I awoke around 6:15, got ready, and Chelsea came over to check some stuff online before we headed out. It started POURING rain outside. Welp. No Mont-Saint-Michel. Again. This is the 2nd time we have tried and failed to go, so we are going to go with the CEFE program in 2 weeks because it is around the same price, and we will get to see St. Malo, another neighboring town too! So Saturday, which is today, has become a complete relax day. I have been in my room all day. Cleaning, Cooking, reading, relaxing, watching part of a French movie here and there, napping. The weather was nasty until around 5pm so there wasn't much else to do. I could have ventured out to find Converse, but that was not appealing to me in the least.

I love coffee. The 40 cent coffee machines here are so wonderful. You get just enough coffee to be enjoyed without risking too much caloric intake, a wonderful boost of energy, and yeah, I love it. However, I think they are confused with what a Cappuccino is. Here, it is basically hot chocolate mixed with espresso, which is what I would call more  a mochaccino..But either way, delicious. I have tried just the espresso plain, which I then add sugar too, but it is a bit too strong for me.

I love it here. I don't like thinking that I am half way through my time here already. I am not tired at all of learning French, of being surrounded by a foreign culture, or being in a tiny dorm room with 1/2 my normal possessions. Life is just good! I do miss my Church community however in Waco, and my friends and family of course, but I have actually never been overwhelmed by that. I think the fact that I know I'll be seeing them in 2 months and this time here is limited keeps my focused on enjoying every single second. People say you will have culture shock when you are here, and also reverse culture shock when you come back to the states. I know I will have reverse culture shock, but honestly I don't know that I had any actual culture shock here. Yes there are things here that I learn every day that are different, but nothing, even if shocking to me, remains with me or disturbs me to the point of emotional breakdown hah. I guess that is a good thing.

My wonderful plate of food!