Orientations

Okay, so my hostess is Rose-Marie; her boyfriend is Phillipe; she has two daughters, Sophie who is 12 and Katrine who is 10; and the other homestay student is Rachelle who is not from Michigan, but her program is through Michigan, she is actually from Madison, Wisconsin. A cousin has been here for the past few days, I think her name is Eva... She is probably around Sophie's age.

Rose-Marie has a garden from which the majority of our food comes. The first dinner I had with them just about everything we ate was from their garden. Phillipe owns a Pizzeria just around the corner and he made the bread for the dinner. At the first dinner some extended family was there. The adults talked to the adults and the kids with the kids. Rachelle and I talked the entire dinner and probably about the 30 minutes before dinner. Dinner went late... we started eating after 8 and finished around 10 or so. Then Rachelle, Sophie, Katrine, et moi did the dishes... for the 10 people who were there plus all the stuff used in the cooking.

After dinner, Rachelle showed me the tram stop and how to use it so that I might be able to make it to the CEA office in the morning. After that, I went to bed. In the morning I went on a run. There is a path right next to the house that goes along a river. The entire thing is covered with trees and is gorgeous. I'm planning on taking pictures of it one of these days.

I made it to the CEA office without much of a snag and then we talked about using the trams, which I had used to get there. (The program gave us a pass for the trams so I don't have to buy one, it's a great pass. I think I've already made it worth the cost...) After talking for a while we went to lunch. It was yummy. I had une cuisse (a cornish hen), well at least part of one, and some sides. Then we got a bit of a tour down town. Patrick left us at the Monoprix (a store) because the other girls needed groceries and a hairdryer.

The other girls in the July portion of the program (the June/July people aren't here yet, they are on vacation) are Claire, Mallory, and Megan. They're really nice. Mallory reminds me of a very proper person, all the right manners and such, not really sure how to describe it. Megan is quiet and conservative. Claire is outgoing and very friendly. Well they are all very friendly, but... oh well. Both Mallory and Claire seem very worldly and culturally educated. I spent the rest of the afternoon with them until around six they all decided to take naps. They are all living in the residence hall (foyer d'etudiants) which used to be a convent actually. They did their entire trips on Tuesday, instead of 2 days like me.

Once I got back to my house I was bored so I lied down for what was supposed to be like 15 minutes but ended up being over and hour. I hadn't even thought I was tired. At 8 I had dinner with Sophie and Eva. We had pasta and cantaloupe. Rose-Maire was there but didn't eat with us. Afterward she talked to me for a while about my day and a bit about the program I'm going to be in. Apparently she works in the CUEF which is what our program is through. After talking with her I went for a walk next to the river for about 45minutes. I got back at 10 and went to bed not too much later.

Today I got up and ran again. I had too much time again with nothing to do so I took an hour nap. At 11 I met the girls and Cathy (Patrick's wife) on campus for a tour. She showed us around campus and a bit around town again. While on campus I went to Rose-Maire's office so she could fix a typo in my name. It said "Laine" and that was going to be good for a transcript. We grabbed drinks and a sandwich in town. Ten the girls wanted to go take a nap, again. They haven't been sleeping well. I came back here and fiddled with my phone. I ended up taking a 2 hour nap. After which I went to Le Geant (the supermarket) to pick up some bananas.

And here I am... Last night Rose-Marie told me that her and the family were going to be gone this weekend... They got invited to her nephew's. they leave in the morning and come back Sunday night. So I'll be spending most of the weekend with the girls I guess. Tonight I'm going to go back into town with them to see it at night.

I got the list of excursions... I'm considering the trips to Annecy, Le vercors, et Vizille. Annecy I definitely want to do. Le Vercors was recommended by Caitlin and is one of the mountains here. Vizille has a museum in which the first meeting of the revolution took place. I'm considering doing all three. My program pays for 2, so I'd have to pay for the third one. I'm thinking I'll do all 3, but what I'm thinking about now though is if I want to do Le Vercors and Annecy in the same weekend or no. Annecy is also offered at another time. Each of these trips is only a day or less... If people have suggestions, let me know!