Hello all,
Yesterday was my 21st birthday and I thoroughly enjoyed it here in Dijon. In the morning Kara, Carolyn, and I went for a run to locate our host family's houses. My host family's house is about a 20 minute walk from where we're staying right now. It looks really cute! I can't wait to move in when we get back from our trip to Provence on Sunday evening. I've talked to my host sister via Facebook chat and my host mother via email and both of them have been very welcoming.
After breakfast we went to Orange, the cell phone store, to try and get our cell phone situations worked out. The Orange store is similar to the Apple store in that once you enter you enter your name on a greeter's list and then they call you once it's your turn. An hour later all three of us (Kara, Carolyn, and I) were very frustrated but we had functioning phones. I was able to use the cell phone I bought in Morocco and all incoming texts and calls are free for me. Next month I will hopefully qualify for a bonus which will allow me to send free texts anywhere in France.
Afterward we walked around the market, which is set up on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Along one stretch were stalls with WWE wrestling t-shirts and plastic hair accessories and I had flashbacks to the souks of Morocco. *Shudder* But further along there were plenty of fresh produce and flower stalls, much prettier. Inside "les halles" (an enclosed market) were butcher counters and cheese vendors and more produce stalls. Yet again I thought back to the souks of Fez where the butcher counters are open-air (read: exposed to flies). It's interesting how to sell the same item the U.S., France, and Morocco can have very different styles of markets.
In the afternoon we had our first official session with Dr. Barbour. We're using a room in the "Maison Diocesaine," a building which houses both offices and living quarters for Catholic priests and nuns. It's a really beautiful building and it has a gorgeous garden behind it.
For dinner we went to La Table Marocaine, a Moroccan restaurant on the same street as our hotel. I spotted it on our first night here, and I have been wanting to try it. Even though we ate a lot of couscous in 7.5 weeks, I have been missing it. The proprietor of the restaurant is a
Moroccan so I got to practice my Arabic a little bit. I had the "couscous agneau traditionnel" (lamb couscous prepared in the traditional way) and it was delicious. We went out to dinner as a whole group and they surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I am so happy with the dynamic of our group here. Everyone made an effort to make me feel special on my birthday (especially Kara) and I really appreciate it. They all really liked the Moroccan food - and want to go back. Unfortunately Dr. Barbour couldn't come with us, but she wants to go again.
Tomorrow we leave for Provence! We'll be there for four days and we're going to Orange, Arles, and Nimes (I will upload a map with these cities on it when I get a chance, I'm also working on getting accents on my keyboard so I can spell everything in correct French). Part of our course is that for each excursion a few students have to present the material about our destination before we leave and then lead discussions during the trip. Wright, Jen, and I signed up to do Provence, so I did research on the city of Arles and its sites and today the three of us met Dr. Barbour for lunch to review the highlights. I think it's really cool that we're going to see Roman ruins in the south of France. When I think of the Romans I think purely of Italy, but after this weekend I will have seen Roman ruins on two different continents and countries (neither of which is Italy).
Now we're off for a quick dinner to go and then see Harry Potter 6 in French (I plan on seeing at least one real French movie while I'm here, but tonight we're going for light and easy). I am very excited!
Yesterday was my 21st birthday and I thoroughly enjoyed it here in Dijon. In the morning Kara, Carolyn, and I went for a run to locate our host family's houses. My host family's house is about a 20 minute walk from where we're staying right now. It looks really cute! I can't wait to move in when we get back from our trip to Provence on Sunday evening. I've talked to my host sister via Facebook chat and my host mother via email and both of them have been very welcoming.
After breakfast we went to Orange, the cell phone store, to try and get our cell phone situations worked out. The Orange store is similar to the Apple store in that once you enter you enter your name on a greeter's list and then they call you once it's your turn. An hour later all three of us (Kara, Carolyn, and I) were very frustrated but we had functioning phones. I was able to use the cell phone I bought in Morocco and all incoming texts and calls are free for me. Next month I will hopefully qualify for a bonus which will allow me to send free texts anywhere in France.
Afterward we walked around the market, which is set up on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Along one stretch were stalls with WWE wrestling t-shirts and plastic hair accessories and I had flashbacks to the souks of Morocco. *Shudder* But further along there were plenty of fresh produce and flower stalls, much prettier. Inside "les halles" (an enclosed market) were butcher counters and cheese vendors and more produce stalls. Yet again I thought back to the souks of Fez where the butcher counters are open-air (read: exposed to flies). It's interesting how to sell the same item the U.S., France, and Morocco can have very different styles of markets.In the afternoon we had our first official session with Dr. Barbour. We're using a room in the "Maison Diocesaine," a building which houses both offices and living quarters for Catholic priests and nuns. It's a really beautiful building and it has a gorgeous garden behind it.
For dinner we went to La Table Marocaine, a Moroccan restaurant on the same street as our hotel. I spotted it on our first night here, and I have been wanting to try it. Even though we ate a lot of couscous in 7.5 weeks, I have been missing it. The proprietor of the restaurant is a
Moroccan so I got to practice my Arabic a little bit. I had the "couscous agneau traditionnel" (lamb couscous prepared in the traditional way) and it was delicious. We went out to dinner as a whole group and they surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I am so happy with the dynamic of our group here. Everyone made an effort to make me feel special on my birthday (especially Kara) and I really appreciate it. They all really liked the Moroccan food - and want to go back. Unfortunately Dr. Barbour couldn't come with us, but she wants to go again.Tomorrow we leave for Provence! We'll be there for four days and we're going to Orange, Arles, and Nimes (I will upload a map with these cities on it when I get a chance, I'm also working on getting accents on my keyboard so I can spell everything in correct French). Part of our course is that for each excursion a few students have to present the material about our destination before we leave and then lead discussions during the trip. Wright, Jen, and I signed up to do Provence, so I did research on the city of Arles and its sites and today the three of us met Dr. Barbour for lunch to review the highlights. I think it's really cool that we're going to see Roman ruins in the south of France. When I think of the Romans I think purely of Italy, but after this weekend I will have seen Roman ruins on two different continents and countries (neither of which is Italy).
Now we're off for a quick dinner to go and then see Harry Potter 6 in French (I plan on seeing at least one real French movie while I'm here, but tonight we're going for light and easy). I am very excited!
Glad you are having a fun and interesting time! You are in my thoughts. I send hugs!
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