Castles, eel, and lost luggage

I have been in France for over a week now. I might say that the time has flown, but it really hasn't. In all reality, it has been a very long week. A good one, but a long one.

We left Thursday afternoon (after a quick trip to the mall for some essentials I was missing due to my still missing luggage) for Tours. Tours is about 2.5 hours east of Nantes and south of Paris. It was a great little town and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. We visited four castles during our weekend there - Loches, Chenonceau, Blois, and Chambord. Chenonceau was by far my favorite castle. It extended out over the river and the interior was absolutely gorgeous. The castle itself reminded me a bit of Beauty and the Beast. I was overall just so impressed with the majesty and history that pervaded the castles. Although it was freezing to the point of numb toes, I found the whole experience very enjoyable. I will post pictures soon and you will hopefully be able to see what I mean!

After touring chateaus (and I suppose while touring chateaus), we ate. And ate. And ate some more. I have never eaten so much food in my entire life. The French cherish their meal time and prepare food like you'd never believe. First of all, the meals are multi-course. There is of course bread, and then some sort of appetizer/salad, followed by a main dish (usually an enormous slab of meat), followed by cheese and more bread, ending with a dessert. The appropriate and proper manner for eating in France is to clean your plate. In fact, many use their bread to actually wipe their plates clean. However, with this much food, many of us found that impossible. I'm not sure I managed to clean one plate (excecpt, perhaps, the dessert). We also ate various unidentifiable things. By the end of our trip, we had learned not to ask. Knowing what the plate was did not help us to eat it; in fact, knowing what it was created a mental block for eating! Let's just say that within three days, I found eel, veal, duck, venison, and who knows what else in my stomach. Of course, I also found baguettes, chocolate croissants, and desserts from heaven there as well. This week has been good, though, to follow a more regular eating pattern. The morning begins with hot chocolate cereal (I'm not kidding... it's literally hot chocolate poured over granola). I will then usually buy a sandwich made with a warm baguette from a nearby boulangerie for lunch. And then dinner is with my host family and we eat much less than we did this past weekend. Thank heavens!

My luggage remained missing until yesterday and I am very grateful to have it all safe and sound with me. Thanks for your prayers! I feel so much better having showered with my own shampoo, having worn new clothes, and having put on make-up. SO much better. :)

This week has been an Orientation crash course at the IES Center. We've been taking petit classes of grammar and conversation (trying to warm up for next week when classes begin). I've also had the chance to get "living here" taken care of. I'm starting to learn my way around downtown Nantes (where the IES Center is located). We discovered a Monoprix (comparable to a Super Target) and have been buying needed items there. I bought a student bus pass which allows me to travel anywhere in Nantes as often as I wish for the month of January. The bus system here is enormous and very well-run. It's an easy and efficient way to travel back and forth to school. We visited the local university today (L'Universite de Nantes) and I would like to invite all the Hope students here to see why we pay $30,000 a year to go to Hope. To attend this university, you pay nothing at all. However, the buildings are worn down, there's a stench that permeates the campus, and it's just not very pretty! 30,000 students attend this particular university from all over the area. It will be interesting to take one or two classes there.

Overall, things are going well. I've been feeling a bit more homesick this week (I think I'm possibly starting to hit the lonely stage of studying abroad that everyone talks about). But I'm sure that getting things even more settled, starting classes, and falling into a routine will help that a lot. My host family continues to be very sweet. I feel like I'm starting to bond with the two older girls a bit more and their family reminds me a lot of mine (I think that's why I feel homesick sometimes). :) My French comprehension is increasing enormously. Being surrounded all day every day by the language helps immensely. I can understand the professors at IES without a problem, so I'm encouraged by that. I'm worried about whether my speaking skills will improve or not but I have to keep reminding myself that it's the first week; it's going to take some time to speak fluent French!

I know I had a million more things to say so I will try to make a list and update more tomorrow or Friday. For now, though, it is time for bed.

Love to all!