La nourriture Francaise

Ok, so I decided that this post would be very French. The topic? Food of course!!! French people, as you may well know, are absolutely obsessed. They spend all day buying food, preparing the food, eating the food, and talking about other food while they eat! My host mother (is an absolute dear) very much enjoys cooking, which is wonderful because I very much enjoy eating the food that she cooks. There has only been ONE night where I didn't like something she made... and that was some kind of pig that smelled horrible. The taste wasn't too bad, but the smell made it worse. No idea what it was or how long it was cooked for, but I tried it anyway. I normally just dive right into whatever she makes even if it doesn't sound too appetizing and it's normally for my benefit!

Some of my favorite dishes so far include: CREPES! (of course), all of the tarts my host mom makes (normally made with apricots, apples, or raisins), a certain fantastic dish made of steak and tomatoes and garlic, and the baguettes I sometimes get for lunch (ham, cheese, butter). Having bread at every meal is also slowly growing on me. Tonight, while eating a very delicious main course of rice, tomatoes, green olives, and onions, I noticed that I ate 3 pieces of bread with my meal! Furthermore, I do NOT mind having more than one course- a formal dinner consists of having drinks and appetizers in the parlor, moving into the dining room for the main meal, then eating salad with bread and cheese, and finally finishing off with desert (make a note of this, Mom). However, I've only had 2 formal dinners with my family - the night I arrived in France and 2 nights ago when the oldest daughter came to visit her family (she lives in Marseilles). All the other times we ate in the kitchen, having almost the same order of food, except for drinks and appetizers. Informal dinners are also without the parents. My mom will stay in the kitchen with the kids to chat about the day, but she doesn't eat. My host mom and dad eat after we do. The reason for this I have no found yet, but I plan on asking soon. Maybe it's to give the parents a moment to themselves? 

A lot of you have been asking about my host family. I cannot stress enough how wonderful they are. They make my day better without realizing it, and every dinner time is like an welcoming get together with laughs and tons of questions about the day or schoolwork each child has. They always ask tons of questions about everything USA and I normally come up with a few questions I've thought of during the day - like the difference between 2 words I have found to be similar or a question about French culture. My host mom is so cute about running to get the dictionary every time neither of us knows the word in french or english. She told me tonight she thinks its fun to research english words she doesn't know.

Other questions include my schooling. I am taking 5 classes- 4 at the IES center and 1 at the University of Nantes. My 4 classes at IES include grammar, economics, literature, and contemporary french society. My class at U of N is a French history class. It starts next week. Yes, all of my classes are totally in French. Should make for an interesting year. I do have friends in my classes who are better at French than me, so I should be ok. I just have to receive a passing grade (C or better) to get credit from Miami, so it's not horrible. I actually don't mind having classes entirely in French. Sometimes I get frustrated with my friends who want to speak english at lunch! It's just that I want so badly to learn as much as I can while I'm here, and taking all my classes in French is just another way to learn. My actual time schedule varies from day to day. For example, Monday I have one class, but it starts at 5pm. Wednesdays I go from 8am until 7pm (don't worry, lots of breaks in between). I did sign up for soccer and aerobics on Mondays and Tuesdays, so that will start next week. Normally I buy my lunch everyday, either at the U of N cafeteria where it's the cheapest (3 euros) or a local bakery. For wednesdays though, I think I'll need to buy my lunch in advance. IES has refrigerators we can use, so I can keep food there. 

I didn't expect to have this much free time these past 2 days- it's SUCH a change from the previous week where IES didn't allow us to have to breathe. We'll see how I fill my time. Once classes get going I'm sure I'll be doing homework all day... but otherwise I don't know! Tonight I found myself reading the comic books I borrowed and found lots of new vocabulary  :)  I share the top floor with Clotilde and Marie, so normally we run into each other's rooms to gossip or show each other something we find interesting. They're cute about getting excited over the new clothes I've already bought, even if it's not their style.

Let me know if you have any more questions  :)  I'll keep you updated on how the rest of my classes go this week... Wish me luck!!

A tout a l'heure!