Hello all,
Today has been excellent so far. First, I should describe my evening last night. The Wake group went to Dr. Barbour's apartment for an orientation and dinner. The orientation is for the French history and culture course that we are taking with her from now until the beginning of October. At this moment my roommates Carolyn and Kara are reading our homework for tomorrow out loud (practicing their pronunciation). The readings are photocopies and from "La civilisation française en évolution I." The course also involves preparation and reaction papers for our excursions to Provence, different parts of Burgundy, and the Loire.
After reviewing the syllabus, Dr. Barbour served us a local specialty, an aperatif called "kir." It's made by mixing creme de
cassis (a liqueur made with mascerated blackcurrants) with a sparkling white wine (produced locally) and served in champagne flutes. *This is a picture of Peter pouring the sparkling white wine into the flutes with the creme de cassis to make the kir.* It was very good. The hors d'oeurves and the aperatif together were the first of five courses that Dr. Barbour served. The next was gazpacho, with a very strong fresh-tomato flavor. Similar to my experiences in Morocco, I have really enjoyed the tomatoes I have eaten here in Dijon. After the gazpacho came the "entree": turkey brochettes with spicy rice on the side. For all of the courses served as the table we had a red wine from Savoie, an area near Dijon. Next came the salad and cheese, combined into a single course. The salad was just fresh lettuce with oil-and-vinegar. There were three kinds of cheeses, but all reminded me painfully of those I ate in Morocco the night before I got food poisoning for the second time. Since that night even the smell of Brie makes me nauseous. I still enjoy goat cheese, Feta, and hard cheeses, but soft cheeses like Brie make me feel ill. Hopefully I can get over this with time, because that encompasses a lot of cheese! Finally, the dessert. Yesterday was Kara's 20th birthday so we put candles in the tarts and sang to her. The tarts were apricot and prune and they were divine. Dr. Barbour also served coffee and chocolate (although I could only manage the second). Luckily all of these portions were very small, or I would never had room for them all.
Dr. Barbour's apartment is big and beautiful. It overlooks a pretty square too. I really had a great time last night. Our group seems to be getting along very well and Dr. Barbour invited her friend Dominique (who is a native of Dijon) to join us.
This morning I went for a run around 8:30am. It was nice and cool outside and there were plenty of people everywhere, walking to work. Then, all of us gathered downstairs for breakfast together. How is it that the French can make a sumptuous breakfast out of a basket of croissants and baguette? By serving them with thick, creamy butter and sweet apricot and raspberry preserves, of course. Along with orange juice, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate (you could have any or all of those options), my hunger was pleasantly satiated. The food is so fresh, you can tell it was prepared that morning! We ate together because we wanted to organize our trips for the weekends we have free, beginning in October. We took a preliminary list of where everyone wants to go and threw out some potential dates. We're going to check with our other friends who are abroad and make more final decisions soon.
After breakfast we did our homework for Dr. Barbour's class. Before we knew it it was time for lunch, so we went in search of a cafe near the Musee d'Archeologie where were were supposed to
meet Dr. Barbour at 1:45pm. We found one called Cafe Verde, in a little square with half a dozen other cafes. After consulting the various menus, we decided this one had the best selection for prices equivalent to the other places. I think we made the right choice. For 6 euros I got a "salade Italienne" with tomatoes, mozzerella, and basil over a bed of lettuce and drizzled in olive oil. It was delicious and refreshing. Lunch was delicious, but we all experienced the inevitable language flubs while trying to order. Compared to most Americans, my French is excellent, but I come here and think that I should really have enrolled in beginning French. Under the pressure of ordering the verb tenses always get jumbled and I probably sound very silly. I hope that I can improve, because I hate sounding like an ignorant American.
After lunch we met up with Dr. Barbour at the Musee d'Archeologie. We had a guided tour with a woman named Marie-Laure. Her name made me chuckle because the text book we used in high
school featured an obnoxious pre-teen named Marie-Laure, the younger sister of the book's protagonist, Mireille. This Marie-Laure was not obnoxious and was well informed on the archeological findings that the museum housed. These were all from the civilizations around the "source du Loire" (now called Saint-Germain). Mostly they were the offerings given to the goddess Sequena, who the Gauls believed would cure their maladies. The museum is housed in an ancient church. I really like it when historical buildings are used for museums. Not only does it seem to be more efficient (you're preserving them both, right?), but modern museums often come across as sterile to me. I think having the objects in real spaces makes them come alive.
After the tour Carolyn, Kara, Mary Kate, and I went to the "Orange" store to get phones and phone plans. Mary Kate already has hers, and Kara has a phone but just needed to buy a plan. I was able to buy a French SIM card to put in the Nokia brick I bought in Morocco, so I didn't have to buy a new one. La victoire!
For dinner the gang trouped over to Les Halles, the covered marketplace. There are a bunch of little cafes around it, and the one where we ate dinner was good and moins cher (less expensive). I had osso bucco and a glass of Chianti. I can't emphasize enough how excited I am about our group here in Dijon. Everyone is very friendly and interested in getting to know the rest of the group. We aren't required to go to meals together and hang out together, but everyone seems eager to do so. It's really very encouraging.
Today has been excellent so far. First, I should describe my evening last night. The Wake group went to Dr. Barbour's apartment for an orientation and dinner. The orientation is for the French history and culture course that we are taking with her from now until the beginning of October. At this moment my roommates Carolyn and Kara are reading our homework for tomorrow out loud (practicing their pronunciation). The readings are photocopies and from "La civilisation française en évolution I." The course also involves preparation and reaction papers for our excursions to Provence, different parts of Burgundy, and the Loire.
After reviewing the syllabus, Dr. Barbour served us a local specialty, an aperatif called "kir." It's made by mixing creme de
cassis (a liqueur made with mascerated blackcurrants) with a sparkling white wine (produced locally) and served in champagne flutes. *This is a picture of Peter pouring the sparkling white wine into the flutes with the creme de cassis to make the kir.* It was very good. The hors d'oeurves and the aperatif together were the first of five courses that Dr. Barbour served. The next was gazpacho, with a very strong fresh-tomato flavor. Similar to my experiences in Morocco, I have really enjoyed the tomatoes I have eaten here in Dijon. After the gazpacho came the "entree": turkey brochettes with spicy rice on the side. For all of the courses served as the table we had a red wine from Savoie, an area near Dijon. Next came the salad and cheese, combined into a single course. The salad was just fresh lettuce with oil-and-vinegar. There were three kinds of cheeses, but all reminded me painfully of those I ate in Morocco the night before I got food poisoning for the second time. Since that night even the smell of Brie makes me nauseous. I still enjoy goat cheese, Feta, and hard cheeses, but soft cheeses like Brie make me feel ill. Hopefully I can get over this with time, because that encompasses a lot of cheese! Finally, the dessert. Yesterday was Kara's 20th birthday so we put candles in the tarts and sang to her. The tarts were apricot and prune and they were divine. Dr. Barbour also served coffee and chocolate (although I could only manage the second). Luckily all of these portions were very small, or I would never had room for them all.Dr. Barbour's apartment is big and beautiful. It overlooks a pretty square too. I really had a great time last night. Our group seems to be getting along very well and Dr. Barbour invited her friend Dominique (who is a native of Dijon) to join us.
This morning I went for a run around 8:30am. It was nice and cool outside and there were plenty of people everywhere, walking to work. Then, all of us gathered downstairs for breakfast together. How is it that the French can make a sumptuous breakfast out of a basket of croissants and baguette? By serving them with thick, creamy butter and sweet apricot and raspberry preserves, of course. Along with orange juice, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate (you could have any or all of those options), my hunger was pleasantly satiated. The food is so fresh, you can tell it was prepared that morning! We ate together because we wanted to organize our trips for the weekends we have free, beginning in October. We took a preliminary list of where everyone wants to go and threw out some potential dates. We're going to check with our other friends who are abroad and make more final decisions soon.
After breakfast we did our homework for Dr. Barbour's class. Before we knew it it was time for lunch, so we went in search of a cafe near the Musee d'Archeologie where were were supposed to
meet Dr. Barbour at 1:45pm. We found one called Cafe Verde, in a little square with half a dozen other cafes. After consulting the various menus, we decided this one had the best selection for prices equivalent to the other places. I think we made the right choice. For 6 euros I got a "salade Italienne" with tomatoes, mozzerella, and basil over a bed of lettuce and drizzled in olive oil. It was delicious and refreshing. Lunch was delicious, but we all experienced the inevitable language flubs while trying to order. Compared to most Americans, my French is excellent, but I come here and think that I should really have enrolled in beginning French. Under the pressure of ordering the verb tenses always get jumbled and I probably sound very silly. I hope that I can improve, because I hate sounding like an ignorant American.After lunch we met up with Dr. Barbour at the Musee d'Archeologie. We had a guided tour with a woman named Marie-Laure. Her name made me chuckle because the text book we used in high
school featured an obnoxious pre-teen named Marie-Laure, the younger sister of the book's protagonist, Mireille. This Marie-Laure was not obnoxious and was well informed on the archeological findings that the museum housed. These were all from the civilizations around the "source du Loire" (now called Saint-Germain). Mostly they were the offerings given to the goddess Sequena, who the Gauls believed would cure their maladies. The museum is housed in an ancient church. I really like it when historical buildings are used for museums. Not only does it seem to be more efficient (you're preserving them both, right?), but modern museums often come across as sterile to me. I think having the objects in real spaces makes them come alive.After the tour Carolyn, Kara, Mary Kate, and I went to the "Orange" store to get phones and phone plans. Mary Kate already has hers, and Kara has a phone but just needed to buy a plan. I was able to buy a French SIM card to put in the Nokia brick I bought in Morocco, so I didn't have to buy a new one. La victoire!
For dinner the gang trouped over to Les Halles, the covered marketplace. There are a bunch of little cafes around it, and the one where we ate dinner was good and moins cher (less expensive). I had osso bucco and a glass of Chianti. I can't emphasize enough how excited I am about our group here in Dijon. Everyone is very friendly and interested in getting to know the rest of the group. We aren't required to go to meals together and hang out together, but everyone seems eager to do so. It's really very encouraging.
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