September 11, 2014

I felt better today, more uplifted. 101 French orientation classes were boring review, but afterwards during a historic tour of Nantes, things were way more interesting. We visited the castle, the cathedral St. Pierre, and the old Jewish quarter. I understood our guide very well in French and spoke a little bit with her about how my town Portland is like Nantes in some ways. I imagined translating for my parents if I they were taking the tour with me. I know I will be doing a little bit of that when my mom comes to visit. Yes, she's coming for Easter and this will be her first visit to France. I can't wait to show her the castles and have her meet the Bouchacourts and my current host family. That would be an absolute delight!

This experience is an incredible privelage! My wish to study in Nantes came true! I remember first visiting it alone during my January trip and being in awe of encountering cathedrals and even a castle around each corner. Each day I am becoming accustomed more and more to the rapid crossfires of bicycles, trams, cars, and motorcyclists cutting across the street, the rhythm of the city, and communicating with shopkeepers when need be. I realized today that I had suddenly got into the habit of rolling my French r's like Spanish and Italian r's, which is so much easier. It's certainly easier to sing in the latter two and I remember my voice coach, Brenda insisting I not sing in French. It was messing up how I was singing. I do prefer singing in Italian, but as long as I don't think about it too much and listen closely, hopefully I'll pick up the French r's better in time.

After our tour, I went and got ice cream with Claudia and Victoria. It was so worth it! I'll be going back to the same place when exams are around the corner. Afterwards we visited FNAC, a big store described by Victoria "as if Best Buy and Barnes & Noble had a baby." It's so true! It has everything: DVDs, CDs, books, journals, folders, electronics, etc. I was ecstatic to find the book Divergent in French. I really enjoyed the film more than I thought I would (I like it way better than the Hunger Games) and it was a good deal. Buying books in French is so much more expensive in the U.S. I try to be picky and since I will be here for a year, budgeting will certainly come in handy.