Pyrennes

Merci Lago

Simone

I met Simon one night right as my friends were about to head to the bars. Some French guys had an apartment across from Cody, Mikey, Noel, Kelsey, Sammi, and Jon’s apartment. They were playing a round of flip cup with Kelsey and Sammi, when Sarah and I walked in. We had next round, and I was across from Simon. The first round we played was the “American” way, which just means that we played with beer. We totally won that round even though I slightly cheated by pouring half my beer into someone else’s cup. The next round was the “French” way with nasty rum and pinapple juice. They definitely won that round. Our friends decided they were heading to the bars at that point so Sarah gave the French guys her number and we left. We ended up running into them again at the pirate bar and Simon bought us drinks all night and danced with me. He was super nice, but didn’t speak any English. His vocab consisted of “come home with me.” I only spent one other night with him when my friends and I decided to go to the clubs with them. He kind of looked like the older Jonas brother. My French love, Simon. :)

Nice

Nice was very nice. It was a classy beach town. We really just spent a lot of time hanging by the beach during the day and shopping around. It was nice to have a relaxing vacation, and to swim in the Mediterranean. 

Carcassone

Can I have some cheese with that wine?

One day after class, Sarah and I were headed to Carrefour to get some groceries and we decided for dinner we really wanted to try some good French cheese, bread, and wine. We went up to the fromagerie and asked the lady what types of cheeses she preferred in French. She said she loved them all, but she picked out a few for us to sample and then cut a few slices for us. The cheese was delicious. We also picked out some nice crunch French bread and chocolate bars for dessert. Picking out the wine was a whole other story. Besides having the label of AOC, red wines should be 2009 vintage or older, and white and rose wines should be much younger. Our teachers also told us that when the wine is around 4 to 6 euro and most of the bottles are gone that usually means its also a good wine. We selected a few and headed back home to taste all of it. I’m pretty sure that was the best dinner I had, had all of my four weeks in Toulouse. 

Farewell Dinner

Every year the summer study abroad students host a farewell dinner for everyone apart of the program. Each of us prepared a dish brought it over to a building that was across from Purpan and over a small bridge. This was the last Wednesday night we were in Toulouse. The teachers and PAs were there as well and they brought wine and beer for us. The lebonese people had amazing food. Margeaux, Sarah, and I made s’more bars. They were delicious! The whole pan was gone in like 20 minutes. Sarah kept grabbing bottles of wine so by the end of the dinner, everyone was feeling it. Mikael invited us to go to the school for a party they were having there with him and his friends. We danced and sat by a bonfire. Apparently on the way home, I walked out the wrong way and got frusterated because their was a wall in my way, and Sarah had one of my wedges on and one of Matt’s sandals and tried to run after me. It was not one of our finer moments if you know what I mean…haha

Labeling and Packaging Wine

Bottles going through to be sealed and labeled

 After spending 5 hours in the hot sun, I finally got to learn what it is like to label and package wine bottles. We used a machine that you send the bottle through, and it puts the seal and label on the bottle in a conveyer belt style. Then Christianne put 6 bottles in a box and sent the box down another conveyer belt that tapped it shut. It was much cooler in the shed, and I enjoyed seeing how this part of the process works. I thought Christianne and I were friends, but she got a little mad at me when I forgot to add more seals to the top of the machine, and then she left 30 boxes for me to label while she left to go home. Whoops haha. It was a long day so I'm sure she was just really tired. 

Packaged wine bottles

Wine bottles before labeling and sealing

Part of machine that tapes boxes

Hooka Bar

I've only had on other experience at a hooka bar, and both times were quite the experience. The very first time was the summer going into freshmen year of college. Duboe, Jeff, Ej, Kyle, and I went to a hooka bar somewhere in Lake Zurich, and since they were closing soon, the guy let us have an extra bong for free. 

This time around, we decided to do it the French way. Sammi looked up a hooka bar in down town Toulouse, and we decided to go. It was a night that we didn't really want to go out to the bars or clubs, but we didn't want to just sit in our rooms and do nothing, so naturally a hooka bar sounded perfect. 

Once we got there, we realized how out of place we were. Everyone was Arabic looking, and dressed in jeans and a tshirt. Meanwhile, I strolled in, in my floral romper and Sarah was wearing a dress. Everyone was staring at us, and it was obvious that we did not belong but I ended up having a great time.

There was a bunch of cool couches, and we got a peach bong and apple flavored bong. Sarah, Matt, and Mikey also ordered mojitos, where were a little too sugary. I attempted to learn how to make "ohs" but that was a failed attempt. 

Finally made it to France! :)

Bonjour!

After hours and hours of travel I finally made it to Toulouse! The three U of I people, Zach, Cathy, and Sarah are all really nice and the French people who picked us up from the airport have been extremely helpful with getting us all situated and giving us food and everything. Sarah and Cathy are the floor above me, and Zach is in another part of the building. I have 6 other roommates, but I have only met the two Hong Kong students. There is apparently a guy named Victor who lives next to me, but he has been MIA so far. One of the French guys Mikael who studied at U of I for a little bit has been very helpful explaining to us how to get down town, and he even offered to let us sleep over at his house if we got lost...(sketchy, thanks but no thanks?) We tried to wander around last night once we got settled in, but everything was closed. Even the McDonalds! haha so we just wandered back to our dorms and ate whatever food we had here, showered and went to bed. Today we all met around 11 and took the tram and then metra to the down town area and grabbed lunch. I got a salad that had fresh mozarella, parmesan, roasted red peppers, and zuchini. It was really good cause everything is so fresh here! All the shops were closed because its Sunday, but we saw some cute fountains and a carousel. After that we found the metra to get back to our apartments because we were pretty exhausted from walking around. Tonight we have a pizza party, and it'll be nice to meet everyone else in our program!

Friday, July 5th

This morning I woke up early and went for a run. It was so nice outside. I saw a gorgeous castle as the sun was rising. 

Christianne and I worked out in the fields until 3pm because it was too hot to go all the way until four. We were both extremely tired as well. I showered and napped afterwards. Tonight I am going to Bordeaux to meet up with Matt, Mike, and Mikey. I am very excited. 

Dinner Party

Where to begin…tonight I went to a dinner party for couples that either make wine or have a bed and breakfast that is associated with the tourist office. The man who was hosting the party was recently divorced and remarried to another man named Alex. Both of who were extremely nice. They had a pool and lots of white tables set up because their wedding was a few days before. I had met a few of the couples already because they came to my host family’s house for a wine tasting my first week here. 

There was another lady I met that had lived in Gurnee, Illinois for 5 years. It was interesting to talk to her because she was telling me that no matter where she had traveled to, she felt that all city people were similar and all country people were similar and all types of people had similar values and morals. I thought it was an interesting way to look at things. She was also explaining the French Paradox to me and how it is related to drinking one glass of wine each day and eating duck. 

After standing around and talking for awhile, we sat down to eat the meal. There was steaks, sausage, lentils, salad with tomato and avocado, and potatoes. It was interesting because for drinks they of course had wine, but many of the dads were drinking straight rum with lime. Then they had a food fight and started throwing people into the pool. Fransizka and Renaud both got throw in, but luckily I avoided it. 

Once the majority of the adults had been throw into the pool, they started dancing to warm themselves up. Their way of dancing is to dance alone and kind of hop from one foot to the next. It was nothing like anything we do in America. They also had a playlist with “Genie in a Bottle” in French, and a slower version of the YMCA so I was able to do the hand motions for that and not stand there awkwardly. haha

Then we ate dessert; their tiramisu was to die for. Right as we were leaving Alex lit one of those lanterns that you release into the sky left over from his wedding, and it got stuck in one of his trees. They had to use the hose to put it out. It was quite an eventful night, and everyone was extremely friendly, which was nice.

Barcelona

Barcelona was insane. It was about a 5 hour drive to get their, but Hani (so hot/slightly obsessed with him) sang on the bus on the way there, which pretty much made my week. It was actually super fun cause then Mikael and Coralie, Jon, and Lauren sang, and we got to here songs in French, Arabic (the Lebonese people), and Spanish.Once we got there, we got ready really fast and Cody, Sarah, Mike, Mikey, and I grabbed some pizza from one of the only restaurants that hadn't closed yet. I was so excited to try my Spanish since I actually know Spanish, unlike French. The first night took us a super long time to find the clubs, but we ended up making it to Opium and 2am. The line was super long at that point, so I walked up to a random group of Italian guys with Sarah and got them to let us cut. I also managed to get the whole group of people we were walking with to get in line with us too. What can I say, I have a gift ;). Once we were inside, it was insane. There was people dancing everywhere and super cool disco lights. There were also cage dancers hanging from the ceiling. It was unlike any club I've ever imagined. Sarah and I got drinks from some guys from Boston (who were super pissed cause the Hawks just beat them in the playoffs for the Stanely Cup...haha sucks to suck) and then we danced with everyone all night. I got to dance with Hani, and I was super pumped haha Sarah made out with some bald guy, which was super entertaining. Opium was awesome too because it was right on the beach so we walked out into the water at like 6am when we wanted to leave. I've never stayed out that late, but it was an amazing time. 

The next day we woke up and went to La Sagrada Familia. It was designed by Gaudi and is still being built. 

 We went to the beach after, which was really nice to just relax in the sun. It wasn't technically a nude beach, but I definitely saw more tits and butts than I have in my entire life. That night we pregamed at Mikeal's apartment, which was super fun. Everyone was together, and we played the finger drinking game. Then we went to Opium for a little before Sarah got sick and I needed to take her home. 

The last day Sarah, Nathan, Jordyn, and I went to the Park Guell. We shopped and got shot glasses, Jack Daniel's tshirts, and a onsie romper but pants style. Then we got back on the bus for our super long bus ride home. There was a ton of traffic cause of an accident so it ended up taking a lot longer than usual but no big deal because Sarah and I just whipped out our Desperados and chocolate bars that we were hiding in our bags. :)

Spacecakes

Spacecake. Enough said. :P

Weekend in Bordeaux

This weekend I traveled to Bordeaux to meet up with Matt, Mike, and Mikey. It was great to see them because we were able to compare internships and just relax together like we used to in Toulouse. I was also extremely excited to be able to speak English. We went to a bunch of different bars, and bought some limes, salt, and tequila so we could day drink by the river.  We had to celebrate the Fourth of July some way. I wore my Jack Daniels t-shirt I bought in Spain, and Mikey had an American flag t-shirt and hat. We also went swimming in the fountain, which was super fun and refreshing. Mikey and Mike shared a room at the hostel, and Matt and I were in the other room. I had my first sober Kebob, and we went dancing at a French latino bar. It was one of the most bizarre experiences. One girl was having her bachelorette party there, which I still don’t understand why she would pick there, but she did. Everyone was salsa dancing, and we, like usual, did not fit in. We didn’t do much this weekend in Bordeaux besides walk around and see the different buildings and parks, but it was really nice to hangout with everyone. Poor Mikey and Mike are in a gorgeous castle, but they had to do all of their host dad’s bitch work. They had to clean out the grandmother’s fridge and weed wack for hours in the hot sun. Its unfortunate because their host dad refuses to tell them anything about how he ferments the wine or how he maintains the vineyard. He just says to them “its magic, and I use things to make it.” They asked Djamel if they could switch to Matt’s vineyard because he is all by himself in a huge mansion, but I don’t know if they are going to be able to switch. I really lucked out with my intership, because as much as it can be lonely sometimes, my family is extremely nice and tries as hard as they can to make me feel comfortable and at home. 

Hippopotame

The mascot of the bed and breakfast, as well as, the labels on the wine bottles is a picture of a hippopotamus. This is because Renaud’s favorite animal is a hippopotamus. His parents would read him a children’s book when he was growing up that had a hippopotamus in it. He also still has his first stuffed animal of a hippo, and the house is decorated with figurines of hippos. I think it’s really neat how they have that mark on their wine bottles. I really like being on a vineyard that may not be as high class as some of the vineyards my friends are staying at, but my host family is so nice and really care about their wine and welcoming everyone that comes to stay here. 

French Paradox

It blows my mind how the French eat so much bread, carbs, nutella, chocolate, sugar, cheese, and somehow, they manage to stay so skinny. One day when Mikael was lecturing about the vineyards he explained that it had something to do with the wine they drink, but I don’t know what I believe. They do stay pretty active here in Europe, however, and their food is a lot less processed. I just wish they didn’t smoke so much. The lady I work with smokes, and it bothers me because I have to breathe it in all the time. 

Mikael

Oh Mikael. Where to begin? Mikeal was one of our program assistants for the Purpan program. I met him the very first night I was in Toulouse. He checked Sarah, Zach, Cathy, and I into our rooms. He was extremely nice and carried my suitcase up the flight of stairs to my room, and showed me my room. Then he pointed to the bed and said, “You bring guys back?” That’s when I knew this guy was going be very interesting to have around. He actually studied at U of I for 6 weeks and knew Malora and Caroline Lievens. He was on the water polo team and lived with some of those guys in an apartment near Fourth and Chalmers. Sammi, Natalie, and I had a bet about who would be able to make out with him, and sure enough I was the unfortunately lucky winner. 

He invited us over to his apartment, and gave us some of his family’s sparkling wine, which turned out to be amazing. We played cheers governor with him and his roommate. We started counting in English, but his roommate was super confused so we switched to French. It made the game ten million times harder. It was fun though, and then we danced at the pirate bar and the clubs afterwards. Mikael thought it was funny one night to call me Rihanna; I was so mad. He told me there was a song by Rihanna that reminded me of him, and sure enough it was S&M. That’s when I wanted to punch him in the face haha.  He was creepily good at unclipping bras. Way better than the Americans. Guess they could learn a thing or two from him. He really was an interesting guy, but fun to have around and mess with. My experience definitely wouldn’t have been the same without him, that’s for sure. 

Dinner with Belgium Family Friends

One thing I noticed while being here in France is that they like to take their time eating. Dinners can last up to 3 hours long every night. It has been kind of relaxing because I don’t feel rushed while I’m eating, and I get to spend the time enjoying everyone’s company. One night we had dinner with my host family’s friends from Belgium. Unfortunately, I did not understand a lot of the conversation because they were speaking in French, since part of Belgium speaks French and the other part speaks Dutch. When they did translate for me, however, it was interesting to here their topics of conversation and what they thought of the American culture. The French are very interested in American history. The son asked me about the American flag and what the stars represented. He also asked me if it was true if we drank out of the red solo cups at parties. I told him that is definitely true, and we have to be careful not to upload pictures with red cups to Facebook because that usually means we are drinking. They found that odd because they are used to drinking at a younger age and many of times their teachers drink with them. My host dad was also talking about how our generation is very into drugs, sex, and alcohol when it comes to the discotechs. He said “your generation goes to discotechs and if you want to buy a blond, you buy a blond.” I wasn’t really quite sure how to respond to that, but yeah haha. Its very interesting how forward the French are when it comes to topics like that. The food was delcious at dinner though and we had some mint chocolate chip and coconut ice cream that tasted amazing. One thing I can always count on is that my family will have dessert every night. Its perfect for me especially since I have such a large sweet tooth :)

America's Birthday

Happy Fourth of July!!

Oddly, the French do not celebrate the 4th of July here...haha so I was off to the vineyards again for another day of work! I had to stop working for a little though to help with the bed and breakfast, and check in a group of people coming from Beijing, China. A group of two French guys checking out were extremely nice and tipped me for helping them purchase wine, and pay for their room. 

After work, I went for a run and made myself some pasta for dinner. I also had a chance to talk to my family and friends on the phone. I watched another episode of Pretty Little Liars, and organized a trip to Bordeaux this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July with my friends from Purpan. We decided we were only going to drink whiskey and beer. NO wine. We have to celebrate the American way ;)

Wednesday, July 3rd

This morning Lea and Renaud left to drive Lea to her grandmother's house. The drive was 8 hours, so they left very early in the morning. Lea is going to stay at her grandmother's house for a week to spend some time with her, and then she is going to a summer camp for 2 weeks with her cousin. I don't think I will see her anymore, so it was sad to say goodbye.

It was pouring rain on the vineyard today, so I wore a super long funny looking green coat to keep out the rain, and my fashion steve madden combat boots. Who knew they would actually come in handy for something other than barn dance. Unfortunately, they got soaked and my feet were sopping wet all day. Costance also told me that Renaud found a snake in the part of the vineyard I was working in the other day. Good to know that there are snakes around. I was terrified the rest of the day. haha 

After being out in the cold wet weather, I took a really hot shower and took a nap. It felt really good to put on warm clothes. Once Franziska came home, we ate omelettes with fresh mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. It was delicious! I watched an episode of Pretty Little Liars, and then went to bed. 

Tuesday, July 2nd

Just like yesterday I worked in the vineyards again. Luckily the weather was a little bit cooler so I wasn't as hot. We also drove to a newer section of the vineyard, and worked with fixing the wires for those vines. It was nice to have a change of scenery. 

After working in the fields, I went swimming with Lea and Franziska's friends from Belgium. Her friend had a daughter, son, and niece traveling with her. They were going to Spain and stopped at the bed and breakfast for two night on their way there. The son knew English so I was able to speak to him a little bit. The niece did also but she didn't like speaking in English to me, so I didn't bother her about it. 

We all ate dinner together as well, which was fun. I didn't understand a lot of the conversation but it was still nice to meet them and hear their stories once they were translated for me of course haha. We ate chicken, apple sauce, fried cheese, and mint and coconut ice cream for dessert. It was really good. :P Dinner lasted about two hours, so I went to bed pretty much right after it because I was exhausted and needed to be up early. 

Day 3: Monday, July 1st

Today I woke up at 7:15 and ate breakfast with my family. Then Renaud explained to me what I was going to be doing during the day because they lady I work with in the fields only speaks French. 

The vines are attached to a wood stump and are held up vertically by metal wire. We have to adjust the wires and hook them with metal clips so that they stay in place. We also have to untangle the vines to make sure that they are growing the right way. I work with an older lady in her 60s named Christianne. She only speaks French. There is also a 19 year old French girl, Costance, who comes to work part time in the fields as well. She also does some of the cleaning in the bed and breakfast rooms. She speaks a little English and is in school for physical therapy. 

Renaud went with Lea on her school field trip and Franziska my host mom went to work. She works at a technical institute with vegetables and fruits. Her focus is apples (pommes). She went to school to study agricultural engineering. I worked with Christianne in the fields from 8-1, then we ate lunch, and then from 1:30-4. 

I also helped this American couple from San Diego get into their room at the Bed and Breakfast since my host mom and dad were not home. I pretty much told them my whole life story because I was excited that they understood my English and knew what I was talking about. Those poor people haha

Afterwards, I swam laps in the pool and relaxed because I was exhausted and hot. But don't worry mom I wore my super cool U of I hat and put lots of sunscreen on :) It sounds like all my friends are doing hard field/farm work too so I can't complain. And at least I have a pool!

Day 2: Sunday June 30th

Today was my first full day at my host family's house, and I feel like I've already learned so much. Sometimes it's really awkward, and I feel out of place because I barely know French. They speak so fast that the words I do know don't sound the same anymore since they slurr all their words together. My family is extremely welcoming though, and they try to translate for me. 

This morning I went on a jog around the vineyards and it was gorgeous! I'm kind of in the middle of no where but its really pretty so I don't really mind. 

After I showered and ate breakfast, my family took me to a local chateau where the village had a lunch and little stands set up where people could sell hand made jewelry or old books and movies that they didn't want anymore. It was similar to a garage sale. A few of the couples that are friends with my host parents spoke a little English, which helped. Everyone is extremely nice. 

After the village lunch we came back to our house, and there was an artist who came and let us play with clay. I made a lady bug, butter fly, three peas in a pod, and a baseball cap out of clay. I'm pretty talented after my 5 years of working at Tamarak ;) It was fun because all of Lea's friends really wanted to teach me words in French so I was running around with them, and they were pointing at different objects and teaching me how to say them. They really struggle with saying the "th" sound in English because they don't pronounce "h" in French its usually silent. Where as, I struggle with the throaty sounds and the "r" sound that they make. Especially for words like "heure", which means "hour". 

I also got to try all three of the red wines that they make here and the sparkling wine. You all probably already knew this, but I learned that the "champagne" we drink at home is usually sparkling wine and not champagne. Wine is considered champagne when it comes from the champagne region of France (north east), but it is super super expensive in the US so most of the time you are drinking sparkling wine and not champagne. 

After the wine tasting, I got to drive in one of the French ladies cars. It was a super old fashion car. This lady was crazy but it was kind of fun haha. Renaud drove behind us and picked me up from her house to drive me back home, and I went swimming with Lea for a little bit. We just ate some cantelope and now I'm off to bed because I start working in the fields tomorrow around 8am. 

Day 1: Saturday June 29th

I just arrived to my host family's house and it was quite the experience getting here. I was that stupid American girl with my huge gigantic suitcase that I literally could not even pick up and luckily three different French guys were nice enough to help me carry it on and off the train. My poor host mom probably thinks I'm nuts. Hopefully I'll have the same luck on my way back to Toulouse on the 25th. 

As for my host family, the mom is extremely nice! And she knows English THANK GOD cause survival French 101 really didn't teach me enough. They have an 11 year old daughter who knows very little English. The mom is German and the dad is Belgian. I haven't met him yet, but I'm sure he'll be just as nice. The chateau I'm staying on has a bed and breakfast and a pool. The mom said I could use their car if I want to meet up with my friends who are near by, but I told her she would have to teach me how to drive stick first haha. She told me to make myself at home and feel free to take anything from the kitchen or use any of the appliances, which was nice cause they eat dinner at like 9 here. I think she really liked the book I gave her because she said she's never been to Chicago, but shes been to California, Washington, and Oregon. Too bad I didn't listen to mom and bring those chocolates because I'm sure her and her daughter would have loved them. 

It was also interesting talking to her because I noticed on their website before I came that they have a hippopotamus as their "mascot" for all their wine bottles and for the bed and breakfast logo, which I thought was kind of odd. So I asked her about it, and she told me that the hippopotamus is her husbands favorite animal. His parents used to read him a children's book that had a hippopotamus in it, and he still has a stuffed animal hippopotamus in his bedroom that he got as a little kid. They also have a bunch of figurines everywhere around their house. After seeing that it inspired me to ditch the whole cat lady thing and do hippopotamuses instead haha they're more exotic. So Al looks like I won't be needing an extra plate at your wedding for my cats. 

Its super cool being here but after seeing the mom and daughter together it kind of made me miss home a little.

My Bed

My Desk

Pool! 

Kitchen

Playground outside

Dining Room

Tasting Room