BIRTHDAY!!!! + classes (much less fun...)

AHHH Y'ALL I'M TWENTY-ONE WOOOOO!! C'est super cool! I have my first legitimate purchase of an alcoholic beverage sitting on my shelf right now: A bottle of Rosé de la Loire. I also have a glass, but am lacking a bottle opener. I didn't quite think this through.... I'll have to wait for Sara to get back and borrow hers. But at least I can look at it until then. Quick geography lesson: the Loire is the longest/largest river in France, and Angers is in the Loire Valley. The Maine River branches off of the Loire (or flows into it, maps don't really have directional flows, but anyway) and runs right by the Chateau d'Angers, which is pictured above--The big stone building with turrets and a missing moat. So for this reason, the region I am living in is called le departement Maine-et-Loire.

Unfortunately, everything closes down on Sundays in Angers (and perhaps in all French cities/towns). And when I mean everything, I mean everything. The supermarkets were closed, all of the stores, there were maybe a dozen people wandering around centreville with me and Sara. The only stores that were open were over by the train station--which makes sense because then they can trap all of the travelers. So Sara and I found a little creperie and had some dinner and an absolutely delicious dessert. I two scoops of ice cream--vanille de Madagascar and caramel du beurre sel--and they were so flavorful and creamy and yummy. If they had brought out the tub of the caramel, I would have picked up my spoon and dug in like a starving child. We also had this bubbly, alcoholic (but only 2.5% vol, haha) apple cider with our dinner to. And at the end, Miss Sara picked up my tab as a birthday gift! Of course, I promised to return the favor for her in August when she turns 21.

We got our class results the next day, and I am currently in level 313 but there are all sorts of like...issues with that right now. Basically, I'm way below where I should be and even my professor recognized that. I purposely left a lot of my placement test blank because one of my biggest fears for this semester is that I would be put into a class level that would be too difficult for me, and my whole abroad experience would be affected by that. Now I'm in a class that is going over descriptives of people--generous, modest, dishonest--and so on, and grammar that is already second nature. After class today my professor motioned me over and gave me a "demande de changer": a request to change. She was very nice about it, saying that I "comprehend well, write well, and speak well" on the demande and now I just have to meet with Monseiur Loiseau tomorrow morning to decide what would be the correct level. Hopefully the 320 level!! Then I could actually take some electives!

Other than that though, the classes are pretty good. I already love my History of France class because I think the teacher is just as passionate about history as I am, and she is also very much interested in the "causes" of historical events. Soulmates!!

I have rediscovered that French boys are definitely from a very deep, wide, and possibly chemically-treated gene pool. I have to be careful to not look them in the eye, otherwise I'll be entranced like a moth to a flame, haha! Plus, they all know they're attractive; no need to stroke their egos. But seriously, it's the hair, I swear. You can pick out any Frenchie because his hair will be swooping and flipping all over the place, like they blew it dry upside down or something. I've never seen it anywhere else--it's so bizarre. I seriously am considering asking someone about it when I can speak coherently in the French language. Like, do they use a product? Or are they born like that? Is there a gene for fluffy hair? See, even in the era of black and white they had fluffy hair!! :


Hmmmm full of secrets....

I found out of the first day of classes that I have two weeks off for vacation in April! The 9th to the 26th! I definitely want to use that time to travel out of the country. The UK, Greece, and Italy, maybe? I also got the dates of the excursions out of Angers by CIDEF so I'll be headed to St. Malo/Mont St. Michel this month, as well as a village that is built into a mountain the next day, Chateaux in March, and Normandy in April! Food and transportation is included in the price, and it'll be a great chance for me to be able to see things that I can't get to by train. I'd like to eventually go to Paris and take a sidetrip from there to Giverny, Monet's home, but maybe April or May would be a better time for that, when all of the flowers are blooming. I'll keep you all updated!

There's a book in the tourism office called "In the Steps of Eleanor of Aquitaine," and I seriously almost caved and paid the 25 euros for it. I am obsessed with that woman--it's seriously a problem. I'm going to Poitiers at some point just so I can be in the same city that she once lived in...over a thousand years ago.

I'll keep you all updated, but it's almost time for dinner!! There are a few more pictures of Angers on my photobucket account, here, in the album "Angers Winter 2010" : http://s1016.photobucket.com/albums/af285/portertravels/Angers%20Winter%202010/

A bientot!