Pruthvi and I Candy Shopping in Privas

Besides a dinner party, a new Just Dance disc, and my friend from India visiting, vacation has been, for the most part, very laid back and quiet. A lot of exchange students jetted off this week to Paris or London or somewhere else, but I was completely content to stay at home. After many long days and weeks at school, I am just in the mood to sleep in late and do absolutely nothing.

 Pruthvi and her family came on Tuesday. It was pouring rain all day, so we played a lot of Just Dance and stayed up late after eating lasagna and crème brûlée for dinner. (The creme brûlée was really good, and now I have decided that my first kitchen investment will be a blowtorch.) I felt kind of bad because apparently Charlotte had heard us talking super late when she got up to go to the bathroom during the middle of the night, so by the next morning, everyone knew that we had been up almost all night. Although what do they expect? We are exchange students who have no other friends to stay up late with any other time.

Pruthvi and I spent most of the vacation talking, eating, laughing, and watching movies. I learned a really cool magic trick with cards that I'm going to impress everyone with when I come back home, and I also became really good at making card towers. I would have had a really impressive one, (as I was going for over 6 layers) but Antoine knocked it down because he needed more cards for his.

Almost every time I meet a new adult in France, I am quizzed on American and French politics and history, and considering we had two guests for 3 days, I was kind of nervous when the questions started coming up in conversation. Since I've been in France, here are some of the questions that I've been asked:

1) How come the army wasn't flying in planes over NYC on September 11?
2) How many kilometers is JFK from the Twin Towers?
3) Is Obama going to get reelected?
4) Do Americans like Obama?
5) Who are the Republican nominees for president? And are they governors or senators? Which state are they from?
6) What do Americans think of Sarkozy?

Come on - give me a break. How many kilometers between JFK and the Twin Towers?!?! Does anyone know the answer to this question? And as for number 6, I bet if you asked the majority of Americans what they thought of Sarkozy, they would probably think it was some Japanese car or some foreign actor or something. Not that I responded with that - after all, I am supposed to be putting up a good image of America. As for the other questions, I usually just try to make up some diplomatic answer and hope that they just go along with it.

On Pruthvi's last full day in Privas, we took a drive around Ardèche. The weather wasn't very nice, but with the heat on and some music playing, we had a good time. We drove all the way to St. Martial (picture on the left), where we had a nice lunch in a little restaurant. It was kind of cold, and I know that I'll have to buy warm clothes (in slightly bigger sizes) soon.

I will admit that I was a little depressed when Pruthvi left. She lives over 4 hours away from me, and even though she's my best friend in France, I don't get to see her very often. She knows exactly what I'm going through, and it's so easy to go on for hours just talking. And that is something I definitely cannot do with anyone else here. The only reassuring thing is that I've still got until next Thursday off from school, so I'll be hanging around and relaxing some more. And on one last final side note: I hope everyone back at home has a Happy Halloween. Eat lots of candy for me, because I know I will be doing the same for you!

Le Gourmand

                                           Pretty Fall Colors in Privas

I seem to have developed a reputation / new title in France: Le Gourmand. That basically translates as "person who loves food and eats a lot of it." I have been associated with this name several times in France, and I must say that it fits me very well. For some reason, (don't ask me why), when you go on exchange, you suddenly discover that you have a second stomach. Because of this, you are twice as hungry and twice as likely to eat. I also think people are a little impressed by the fact that I can easily eat as much as (or more than) any teenage boy or grown man at the table. I am a food champion.

Last Friday was a rather fun day; granted, the main reason for this being that it was the start of vacation. I'm happy to admit that things with M. Saint-Clair have gotten slightly better for now. I never ended up going to that meeting with Anne and the principal, because as I've discovered, saying that you will do something and actually following through are often very different things in France. So - I decided to go and talk to Saint-Clair alone after class (even though it cut 5 minutes into my vacation time). He managed to be civil even though I told him I wasn't going to do the homework over break because it is too difficult. Beyond that, let's just say I keep my distance and I hope that he keeps his.

Also, one exciting Friday fact - I found out that my high school is kind of like a boarding school. I always see all these students with huge suitcases in the morning and I finally decided to ask this girl why they brought suitcases to school instead of backpacks. She told me that some people live well over an hour away and they stay in apartments above the classrooms during the week returning home only on the weekends. That explained a lot: my high school always seemed rather large for 880 students, so it made sense that several floors of the school are dedicated to student dorms.

Now that vacation is finally here, I've had some time to lay back, relax, and sleep! It feels so nice knowing that I don't have to go to school tomorrow, and the fact that my exchange student friend, Pruthvi, is coming to stay at my house for a few days makes vacation even better. This is the first time that I'm getting together with a friend since I've been in France, and I'm so excited to have company. Sometimes being foreign is so darn lonely.

This weekend, I went to the movie theater with my family for the first time, and we saw the new action film with Taylor Lautner. As I watched him eating his burger and fries and milkshake in a diner as people started to be blown up outside, I became kind of nostalgic for America. I was also homesick because no one in the cinema was eating any popcorn or candy, and to me - that's just depressing. I've started to appreciate the wonderful, unhealthy eating habits of Americans more and more since I've been in France, and I fully plan on resuming them when I return home next year.

Yay for French Class...

                                     (Pont en Royans)

School has gotten much too monotonous and tiring, and it's only the second month. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I like having a routine, but that routine usually involves movies, food, sleep, books, music, and so on and so forth. I'm not a fan of sitting in class for 8 hours a day focusing all my energy on not falling asleep. It's all too blah for my taste. When I have a free bell, I usually try to sneak out of the building to shop for chocolate or take a nap in some bizarre, empty park. However, now that the weather is finally starting to get a bit colder, I usually just go to the library and stare at pictures in magazines. Thank goodness vacation is just two days away!

The one part of school that I cannot stand is my French class. My teacher, whom I'm sure you've heard me mention before, M. Saint-Clair, and I happen to be in the middle of a feud/grudge that is fueled by our completely pure dislike for each other. I've even had my classmates come up to me after class and say how much he really hates me. Well, the feeling is mutual. Let me clarify:

This week, I had some classmates come up to me and ask me what I thought of M. Saint-Clair. I've never liked him ever since the first day of school where he singled me out in class and forced me to speak my pitiful French while everyone else laughed. So in response to their question - I told them that no, I didn't like him as a teacher, or for a matter of fact, as a person. They proceeded to tell me that during a class last week, he joked about me being stupid in front of the class because I didn't understand a lot of French. I had several people tell me that he was acting really mean to me. I was completely unaware of this situation until multiple classmates approached me (I must have been daydreaming, or sleeping, or something of the sort - cause, let's be honest here, that's my life 5 days out of the week). It's not like I was surprised or anything, and you can call me crazy, but I guess that I had expected a teacher to act a little more maturely. From that point on, I decided that I couldn't give him my respect if he went so out of his way to disrespect me.

Yesterday, I had M. Saint-Clair again. He was lecturing, but the only time I ever take notes is when the teachers write something on the blackboard. Alas - I spent most of the class making a quite impressive doodle that should belong in some museum of modern art. I honestly tried to listen to the lecture (what can I say - I'm a multi-tasker), and I wasn't disturbing the other students or anything, but when M. Saint-Clair saw me drawing, he decided to stop class and mock me for a while. He doodled on the blackboard because as he put it - since I was too stupid to understand French, maybe I could understand his pictures (which were much less impressive than mine). He really doesn't understand that I'm not in his class to study advanced French literature and receive good grades. I'm graduated. I'm going to college. He is not important to me, and if he spent the same amount of time teaching the other students and leaving me alone as he does mocking me every day, he might accomplish something as a teacher. He also made a point to make sure I understood the homework - which is to read a classic French novel called "Zoo de Vercors" over vacation. However, this book is challenging for students who speak French as their first language, but he was completely intent on me purchasing this book and finishing some 300 pages of difficult text over vacation. I'm positive that M. Saint-Claire knows this assignment is impossible for me, and when I don't do it, it'll be another reason for him to highlight my stupidity. Oh - what I would give to see M. Saint-Clair stumbling through an English class in America for a year! (Mrs. Marsh would teach him a thing or two!) 

Today, I passed M. Saint-Clair in the hallway, and he made every effort to completely avoid me (even though we were the only people there). Maybe he doesn't like me because I don't suck up to him, or laugh at his jokes, or because I say comebacks after he mocks me. Whatever it is, I really don't care. I think this whole thing is petty and childish and unnecessary, and I think there are a lot more important things M. Saint-Clair could focus on than picking on the exchange student. Some people never seem to grow up. And although this blog has turned into one long rant, mostly because the rest of my week has been boringly average, I've decided to let none of this bother me. I know for a fact that I'm not stupid, and I've got all my friends and family at home, and even my host family in France that could back me up. For 5 hours a week, I can deal with M. Saint-Clair (with the help of a little attitude), and for the other 163 hours per week, I'm having the time of my life*! 

(*Disclaimer: this is a slight exaggeration for the other 30 hours per week spent in school)

Giants, and Puppets, and Clowns! Oh, My!

France scares me sometimes. I love France, but there are a whole lot of bizarre things here. This weekend in Lyon, all of my worst fears seemed to be following me around, but despite all that, I had a great trip. Here's what you missed:

Scary, tall, white people on stilts that gave you menacing looks as you walked by. There were a whole bunch of them, and they were kind of like mimes. Didn't talk. Just stared at you and acted creepy.

Scary, white puppets. I don't know what in the world prompted a person to make these, but whoever did was seriously demented. Like, a thousand times more demented than Tim Burton. I spent an hour in a museum staring at marionette puppets with their beady little eyes staring me right back. It didn't comfort me that they were in glass boxes, either. It was kind of like walking through one of those fun houses where you jump a little at every twist and turn.

Scary clowns. To be more elaborate, a troupe of clowns that seemed to be stalking me for the day. I saw them at several places throughout Lyon, and I started getting suspicious. They were happy. Too happy. They also looked quite confused and often just stood around staring at the buildings around them for several minutes at a time. I think they were plotting. I mean, come on, what else do clowns do?

So that was pretty much all my creepy moments in Lyon. However, it was enough for me to worry about nightmares the next day. But, all in all, I had a really wonderful time in Lyon. I went with a Rotary family who was very nice, and we stayed at their daughter's apartment. There was lots of good food and sight-seeing, and it was nice to be in a bigger city for a while. 

The one really noticeable change during my weekend in Lyon was the weather. It was freezing and rainy, and for the first time, it felt like late fall. I was bundled up in my not-so-warm clothes with chills running down my back all weekend long. However, when I came back to Privas at the end of the weekend, the weather was back to being sunny and in the 80s, and considering it's only an hour and a half car ride to Lyon, it feels like there shouldn't be that much of a difference. There seems to be this sunny protective bubble around Privas because the weather is almost always perfect here. It's actually kind of funny - my family always boasts about Ardèche being the best region in France. They tell me all about the great things that are here; the history and the sights, the food and the weather. It's common knowledge to all the Ardéchois that every other region in France pales in comparison to home. And I must add that I'm starting to agree with them. 

Underground Tunnels and Hotel Massacres

                                           (Anne and I at Trois Croix)

This past Wednesday had to be one of my favorite school days so far in France. Maybe it was the fact that I only had one hour of school, or maybe it was because that one hour was English class. Whatever it was, it was a good day. Earlier on in the week, a classmate told me I didn't have to come to school until 10 a.m. on Wednesday because the gym teacher for swimming would be absent. Apparently, the message changed, but I never got the memo. Everyone showed up for swimming at 8 except for me. (I was fast asleep in my bed!) Sometimes it's nice when you don't understand everything.

I had a very leisurely morning. I woke up late, made myself a delicious breakfast of French bread smothered with Nutella, grapes, and vanilla tea with lots of sugar and milk, and listened to the Anastasia soundtrack on my walk to school. English class ended at 11, so I walked home (this time to the Pocahontas soundtrack) and ate some more Prince cookies. Yum!

When Anne came home that afternoon, we took off in the car and I got a history lesson of Privas. Our first stop was Trois Croix. The statue is on a hill overlooking Privas and the countryside. In the good olden days, there used to be a castle there, but it was completely destroyed in the religious wars between the Huguenots and the Catholics. Rumor has it that when the castle was here, there was an underground tunnel built from the castle to the hospital where Anne works. Anne told me she had a friend who knew the tunnel and had a key, so we'll see where that takes us...

After that, she took me to see where the town guillotine used to be in Privas during the French Revolution. As it turns out, it was in the same town square as one of the family's favorite cafés! We drove and drove, and I learned more and more. It was all very fascinating; I've taken quite the interest in local history. I learned that Ardèche is made of a bazillion volcanos (now all dormant, thank goodness!). Also, only a few minutes from Privas is the oldest sight ever discovered for cave paintings in the world (Chauvet Caves). A family friend of the Delenne's discovered it, and it is estimated to be over 30,000 years old! Pretty cool, right? Sadly - no one's aloud to visit, but I can say I've seen the outside!

There's a million other things I could tell you, but if you're really interested, there are much more knowledgeable sources than me. Oh, and before I forget, Anne made a list of all the things she wants to do with me before I leave. (See - I'm not the only person who likes making lists!) One of the things we might do is go to a hotel not far from Privas. The hotel in itself isn't anything spectacular, but there was a mass murder there so many years ago. From what I understood, a man rented out a hotel room, stabbed dozens of people during the night, took all their money, and then he stuffed all the bodies in the chimney. No one knows for sure, but he was supposed to have killed up to a 100 people during his life. Should be a fun day trip.

Onto the subject of school: I smile every time I remember that grades don't matter this year. I put so much pressure on myself to do really well back in America, and now I don't have to feel that way at all! Yesterday, I walked into math class with no idea that everyone was about to take a big unit test. I sat down and did the questions I understood (a little less than half). The math in itself wasn't hard, but my calculator was dead and I didn't understand the French. When the last bell of the day rang, everyone was still frantically working and staying late, but there was no point for me to stay. I did enough to show that I wasn't stupid and that my math was good, no less, no more. I could get used to this! (Although I have a feeling it will be difficult to readjust to college when I come back.)

 This weekend - I'm headed off to Lyon with a Rotary family. I'm not sure what we will be doing, and more importantly, when, where, and what we will be eating, but I'm sure it will all be good and I'll let you know all about it sometime next week!

Listing my Life

                             (On the road to Les Vans, Southern Ardèche)    

I've found a new way to occupy my time in school: lists. Every time I'm bored in class, I'll write a list dealing with pretty much anything and everything. Today, I wrote a shopping list, which yes, included more chocolate, a list of things to do when I got home, of things to do when I get home to America, of things I want to do in my lifetime, and of things I like about France. Because I don't have to much to tell you now, I'll show you my list of the things I like about France. All the things on it are (so far) edible, and I encourage you to try them all if you ever get to visit. Here it is:

1) Caprice des Dieux - The best cheese in the whole wide world. I think it's made from cow's milk, and it's soft and creamy and delicious. If you eat it, you will most likely die and go to Heaven.

2) Kiri - Also cheese. It's kind of like cream cheese, and it tastes amazing on just about anything.

3) Tartare - Yet again, cheese. (I think you see a theme here) It's spreadable soft cheese with herbs and garlic in it, and I love it on French bread after dinner.

4) French Bread - More specifically - baguettes. They're fresh, and soft, and wonderful. In France, I've noticed that people here use baguettes as a utensil. In one hand, they've got their fork, and in the other (where the knife usually is), they've got a piece of bread. Why we haven't thought of this in America; I don't know.

5) Fruit Syrup - I'm sure we've got this somewhere in America, but it's definitely more popular here. Whenever we sit down for drinks, there's this assortment of syrups with a bazillion different flavors, some of which include: peach, orange, strawberry, raspberry, apricot, blackcurrant, chestnut, fig, grenadine, sugarcane, orgeat, etc... All you do is pour some in a glass, add water, and you've got yourself a delicious, sweet drink.

6) Olives - I have never been a huge fan of olives, but they are truly great here. They have so much more flavor than the olives in America, and they're delicious and salty.

7) Saucisson -This is definitely a food made famous by Southern France. It's this sausage that is always served as an appetizer, and it's kind of like pepperoni, but a whole lot less processed.

8) Figs - I was in Southern Ardèche with my family yesterday visiting Manu's parents in Les Vans. There was a tree by their house with tons of figs on it. I've eaten figs before, but they've always been dried and packaged. This was the first time I ate a warm, fresh, super-sweet, mushy fig, and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my life.

9) Milk - For some reason the milk is a thousand times better here. Maybe it's because it's made right here in Ardèche, or maybe it's because it's half creme, or maybe it's because it comes in a cute little blue and white old-fashioned carton with a picture of a boy sledding down a hill. Whatever it is; it's delicious and I'll miss it when I come back home.

10) Petit Beurres - These are little biscuits made out of butter, flour, and sugar. They're flat, cracker-like biscuits, and they really do taste exactly like butter. I eat them dipped in hot tea, and they're the perfect breakfast or afternoon snack.

11) Kinder Chocolate - This is my savior when it comes to food in France. This is what I buy when I go to the supermarket after school. This is what is hidden in my closet at home. 'Nuf said.

12) Yogurt - People eat a lot of yogurt in France, but instead of eating sweetened yogurt, they buy regular, plain yogurt and add their own sugar. I think it tastes a lot better this way. The yogurt isn't very processed, and it tastes a lot more like dessert when the sugar crystals haven't dissolved and there is a grainy texture and sweet taste.

13) Baked Apples - One of the popular snacks here is baked apples. My host mom makes them by coring the apple and sticking in a lot of butter and sugar in the middle. After a few minutes in the oven, the butter is melted and the sugar is crusted all over the apple. It's sweet, simple, and quick, and it tastes wonderful!

14) Ardèche Gateau - I don't know how to make this, but it's a specialty of the region, and it's in all the bakeries and supermarkets in Ardèche. It is a plain, vanilla-ish cake with a layer of crusted sugar on top. I think there might be some alcohol baked into the cake, but I'm not sure. It's plain and not super sweet, but it's delicious.

15) Montélimar Nougat - This is another food that is made regionally. It's a candy made mainly out of egg whites, honey, almonds, and it's a chewy, creamy, sweet nougat. However, I don't eat it too often because it's kind of expensive.

16) Prince Cookies - I just tried these for the first time today. I had another supermarket run after school, and stuck these in my bag. They're a vanilla cookie with a layer of something in the middle. I bought two packages; one with white chocolate in the middle, and one with vanilla in the middle. I have a feeling they will become regulars next to my Kinder chocolate!

So that's my list for now. I'm sure things will be added on to it; and I'll try to remember to let you know when I think of those other things. I also just want to add that writing this has made me quite happy - And I hope it makes you all as happy as it's made me, too!

The Greve, The Greve!

                                               City Center of Privas

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better now! I usually take a ton of over-the-counter medication when I'm sick, and while it makes me feel temporarily better, it often prolongs my cold. This time, I took nothing, and it was terrible for two days, but after that, I was practically back to normal. Maybe that holistic method of letting your sickness pass as it should has a point.

This week was actually a short one at school. I had 8 hours less of school than I usually do because of teacher absences and strikes. It was quite nice. Apparently, the public-school teachers have strikes here in France often. (Although if you read the news, I suppose you already knew that.) They believe that the classroom ratio of students to teachers is much to high, and are therefore striking so that France hires more teachers. Everyone was all worked up, talking about the "greve" happening Tuesday. I found it kind of amusing. Maybe it's the fact that I'm reading Harry Potter right now, but with everyone going around saying "the greve, the greve," I couldn't help but to think of the Professor Trelawny from Harry Potter going on and on about "the grim." Hahaha :)

Now that I mentioned Harry Potter, let me just say that it is taking me absolutely forever to read book #7. I've been reading it for ages, and I've only just started chapter 9. I think by the end of the year, I may get halfway through the book. Maybe. Reading it is also a tad bit strange because a lot of the characters and places have different names in the French version. For example, Snape is "Rouge" and Hogwarts is "Poudlard." However, I think it's kind of interesting, and by reading two different copies on the same time, I pick up on a lot more details and clues.

I'm glad that today is a slow, relaxed day at home. Yesterday evening, I went out to a pub with Charlotte and her friends, and I was really tired coming home. I slept in late and spent most of the morning with Marie, my oldest (24) sister who is home for the weekend. We went into Privas, had a cafe at the brasserie, and met with a few of her friends. At the market, I saw a couple from the Rotary club who invited me to go to Lyon next weekend. They've got a 20 year-old daughter, so I'm pretty excited to go. I also got invited to go on a week-long trip to Frankfurt, Germany the week right before Christmas with Mathilde, my second host sister, and her class in school. Yay!!!

On a completely different note, I don't know what my problem is because I can not stop eating here. No matter how much I eat, I'm always hungry. I've eaten so much chocolate this week, that my trash can is full of wrappers. I always finish my plate clean at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I've got my secret stash in my room at the house. Maybe this is my subconscious dealing with culture shock or something, because I've never been this hungry before, and I've never had this much of a craving for chocolate. I have a feeling that by the end of the year, I will come back as a chubbier version of myself. Oh well - good thing I brought stretchy pants!