L'Escalade

This past week has been absolutely beautiful here in the Southwest of France, which has meant lots of sun-bathing and relaxing. Last night I got to go a bit further than that and go up into the mountains to rockclimb! I went with a friend and four of his cousins (none of whom spoke English) to the same area where I went snowshoeing (lower down on the mountain, we weren't in the snow). I climbed the cliff several times and had a slight woopsie one time when I lost my footing -- thank God for belay-ers. Then my friend asked me if I wanted to learn how to belay, so I said sure...I wasn't aware that learning meant actually doing it and having his life in my hands. I was absolutely terrified that I was going to kill him, but one of his friends helped me and made sure he had a hand on the rope just in case I lost control. My friend did not die thankfully.

When we were getting ready to leave, another of his cousins asked me if I had enjoyed myself, but I mistranslated her words into "were you scared", so I responded with a confident "no." When they are stared at me in disbelief, I knew that I had said the wrong thing. After apologizing profusely for misunderstanding, I assured them that I enjoyed myself immensely and hope to do it again sometime (if they'll excuse my foreign-ness).  

Les Pancakes!

This last weekend was very relaxing. We finished with our French language courses on Friday and ended with a theater production, which I reluctantly played in. I decided that I'm not cut out for theater, but I had fun nonetheless. That night I went to a friend of Estelle's house and we played wii until two in the morning. It was pretty great. The rest of the weekend was incredibly sunny and warm, so I sat outside and read quite a bit and tried to get some color on my all-too-white legs. Saturday night, I went bowling with a handful of people, and Sunday was filled with watching too many episodes of Dexter (however, there's really no such thing as watching too much Dexter), and then I went to Estelle's house and made pancakes for her and her boyfriend. I introduced them to pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup, which they quickly fell in love with. Clement was pretty skeptical of the peanut butter at first; he said it looked like something you would vomit. But he loved it, and I got to have a little taste of home. After dinner, we watched the Return of the King extended version in English, so that they could practice listening and comprehending English, and so that I could just sit there and basque in Lord of the Rings magic.

That was my weekend. Sounds just like a normal weekend in the US, right? Don't worry, I'm going to Toulouse next weekend, so I'll have beautiful new pictures and stories to tell.

Bisous à tous!

Le Phare et Une Résumé

Voila, my latest watercolor. I'm quite proud of this one as my host-mom did very little to help me. Usually she adds the little things that make the picture actually look like a piece of art, but this time, I did almost all of it (with her instruction of course). Hooray for progress!

Le Phare: Yes, this is for you, Grandma Van.

I know I haven't updated my blog much lately, so here's a recap of my recent activities:
Last weekend I went to Biarritz, which is a very rich, Bearnese village on the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but I'll try to scrounge up some pictures from my friends for another post. It was beautiful, sunny, and windy day, and I'm rather convinced that the South of France is the most beautiful place on Earth. This past week I had my DELF which is a French exam, whose results will contribute to my grades, and if I pass, I will get an official French certificate, which would help me get a job in France should I ever wish to work here. I think I did pretty well on the written section, but I was too nervous during the oral exam and all I can remember is stuttering and tripping over my words, so we'll see. I had a three day weekend because of the exams, so Friday I did a bit of shopping with my friends and then I returned home for a very long and wonderful Skype date with a friend from home. Saturday, I did absolutely nothing until the evening when I went to Estelle's apartment for crepes and a movie -- we were going to go out for St. Patrick's Day, but we became tired and lounged on the couch instead. Sunday, I slept in and then helped my host-mom bake carrot cake. The cake turned out quite tasty (thanks again for the recipe, Grandma Chris). I then painted my painting and I'm going to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close this evening with Estelle. The weather has been fluctuating from 80ish degrees to stormy and raining over the last week. Happy Spring!

L'état de Washington??

The other day, a group of study abroad advisers came to the university to ask us about our experiences. I started talking to one of the advisers when I heard a faint "Washington" somewhere behind me. I whirled around and asked, "Who's from Washington?" I was then introduced to an adviser from Washington State University. She asked me where I go to school, and at the mention of Western, a huge smile spread across her face. "I'm from Mt. Vernon! I love Bellingham!" Wow, I about had a fit; I became so excited! You should know that I brag about Bellingham all the time, but no one has any idea what I'm talking about, so being able to nerd-out about how great Bellingham is with a fellow Washingtonian was so wonderful for me. We talked about the coffee, the music, and the people for a while until we actually started talking about studying abroad. I love how I can still meet a Bellinghamite in Pau, France of all places!

Une Soirée Française

This last weekend, I was introduced to a handful of Estelle's friends; we went to her friends' apartment for dinner and drinks. This means that I was alone with only French people for an entire evening -- this wouldn't be completely unusual since I spend evenings with my host-family, but a group of 15 young French people is quite different than my 2 host-parents. It was terrifying. In a good way. First off, we had to say hello to everyone, which, in France, is done by kissing everyone on the cheeks. Personally, I absolutely love this tradition, and it made me laugh a bit to myself because this was quite the event in and of itself as no one could be left out. It's a very personal way to say hello, and, particularly as a newcomer in a group, it was great to be introduced to everyone before carrying on with the evening. In the beginning, I sat quietly trying to keep up with multiple French conversations at once, which just did not work at all, and my gracious Estelle kept trying to explain everything that was said. When I finally started getting involved in the conversation, almost everyone there stopped their side-conversations and stared at me: the American speaks! It was pretty nerve-wracking, but everyone was very encouraging and welcoming, and it sounds like I'll be seeing them all again this weekend as well. I fit in in France! It's a miracle!

Des Raquettes

This last Saturday I went snowshoeing in the Pyrénées! I went with Estelle, her boyfriend, and two of my other American friends for a day of hiking, blisters, and snowball fights. The scene was incredible: ancient, mountain towns, snow-covered peaks, and gently flowing waterfalls. We started the hike around 10AM and finished around 4 or 5PM. We were planning to hike all the way to the top, but it was a lot steeper and farther than we had anticipated, and one of my friends got some pretty nasty blisters, so we didn't make it to the lake. However, the plateau that we reached was breathtaking; we stopped there and ate our lunches as well as chatted and compared French and American expressions. I got to hear my friend Clement's French impression of a Texan accent, which was absolutely hilarious. I was quite content with the day; there was even a cute puppy that we got to pet. After the hike we went and ate crêpes. It was an all around fantastic day.
Enjoy the pictures, which don't do it justice:

Classy, orange snowshoes!

The road we came from.

A beautiful stream.

Another beautiful stream.

Le Pic du Midi d'Ossau

Les Vacances

For our "Spring Break" we got three days off of school for a five day weekend. I was originally planning to travel to Rome with some friends, but it didn't work out, so my host family invited me to go to Vieussan in the Souteast of France with them. My host-mom's brother owns a Bed and Breakfast there; her whole family actually has a lot of history in the town, which is what compelled him to buy the "house". I emphasize "house" because it was once the home of the richest man in the city who controlled the "moulin" which was the mill that regulated the river l'Orb; the house is gigantic and has been renovated into a B&B/ hotel. The village itself, which is about a fifteen minute walk by the road, or a beautiful half-hour hike through the mountains, is incredibly small (population nearing 300 during the summer) and was built up against the mountain. The area is surrounded by vineyards in every direction. So, basically, I visited heaven for the weekend. I took more pictures than my camera knew what to do with. I was enthralled by this beautiful, ancient village.

"Moulin de Grais" the B&B

Vieussan as seen from the hike.

A beautiful door in Vieussan

Down a sidestreet

The old café!

One day, we went into Beziers, the closest big city to Vieussan (it's about an hour away from Montpelier), and we went to see the Cathedral. We were able to walk up the bell tower where there was a breathtaking view of the city and the river.

I love the bridges.

I am so grateful to my host-family for including me in this trip. I was surrounded by a beautiful French landscape, eating delicious French food, and listening to and speaking constant French -- I couldn't have asked for more. Here are some more beautiful pictures from random villages we visited:

What a lovely place to spend eternity.

Carnaval

The time has come to speak of the infamous Carnaval, and no, I did not misspell carnival. It is Carnaval, the week-long celebration leading up to Mardi Gras and the period of Lent. The Carnaval celebration in Pau is quite famous and its tradition is particular to the Béarn region; the speeches, etc. were spoken in Béarnese, not in French; however, since not all of the people in Pau are Béarnese, there were French translations. This was the most lively week of my stay here; everyone was out dancing, eating, drinking, and singing every night of the week: old, young, foreign, bears (we'll get there, don't worry). There are costumes and skits, and it's so much fun!

Saturday: This was the opening of the festival and began with the arrival of Sent Pançard, the fat king who symbolizes essentially the seven deadly sins: he's fat, lazy, greedy, lustful, etc. He comes into the city and is given the key to the city by the mayor, and he just takes over, turning every night into party night.

So much cow bell

Sent Pançard in his chariot

That's one of SP's goonies. 

Key to the city

SP et moi

Fast forward to Wednesday (WARNING, if children are reading this, please skip to Thursday):

So Wednesday is where the bears come in. There is a legend (I hope I recount this accurately) that basically says that long ago there was a group of bears who came out of the mountains to the village and started mating with the women of the town. The men of the village then had to kill all of the bears. So, Wednesday night was a bit of a recount of these events: There were men dressed up as the women of the village and there were other men dressed up as the bears. These bears were very anatomically (ahem) explicit. So the night began with the bear chase where the bears chased down and "raped" the women; they were technically supposed to just attack the dressed-up men, but if there were women (real women) wearing any kind of pink or if the bear happened to know someone in the crowd, then the crowd got a bit of action.

So next, there are women dressed up as the men of the village, and they have to hunt the bears and "castrate" them. Once a bear has been castrated, he can no longer attack the "women." So there you have it: Wednesday night. At the end of the chase there was a big party. Here's me with a castrated bear:

Ok children, you may begin reading HERE: Thursday: La Vie en Rose
Sent Pançard's wife, Carronha, decided to throw a huge party for all of her friends; this party symbolized women independence and liberation, as Sent Pançard had to obey the women for a change. He ended up working behind the bar. Everyone wore pink and there were many more cross-dressers. There were two bands (both very good) who played folky French music.

Night out with the girls

Saturday number two: The parade!
There were so much people in Pau on this day! I met my friends au centre ville and we then met up with my French conversation partner who was with her friends and co-workers; all of them were dressed up as the old cranky women of the village. We all donned our scarves over our heads and joined them.

Estelle et moi

The parade isn't really organised at all besides the bands and SP's chariot; anyone can walk along in the parade who wants to. There was confetti and silly-string everywhere. It was such a fun day walking around the town. I even got pulled onto SP's chariot by his goonies; they carried (almost dropping in my case) random girls from the crowd to SP who demanded his "jolie bisous" (pretty kiss). I tried to get by with a kiss on the cheek, which didn't fly, so I just tucked in my head and said "non, non, non, non" until SP's wife pushed me off the chariot. Ah, French traditions.

Mortifying

 






























The parade led up to La Place de la Liberation where SP's trial took place. He was found guilty of causing every problem in the world including world hunger and the economic crisis. He was sentenced to be burned to death on Mardi Gras.

After the trial and sentence, I went out to dinner with some friends and I tried 'tartine' which is cheesy bread with yummy stuff on it. Mine had foie gras on it. Mmm.

After dinner, we headed over to the tent and and proceeded to dance the night away.

Mardi Gras!!
It was the night of the burning and the final night of Carnaval. Good bye Sent Pançard!

So that was Carnaval! I love this tradition so so much and wish we it was celebrated in the US. It's lively, exciting and crazy and gets everyone in the community acting silly and enjoying life.