The Longest Day of My Life

Traveling to France was... an experience. One that I could quite honestly live without. I departed Detroit (after a very tearful goodbye with my mother) at 4:00 p.m. Thanks to the lovely snow that began descending, we sat on the plane for the next 50 minutes waiting for the wings to be de-iced. After we got going, the ride was fine. I had a window seat and the guy next to me spoke approximately 5 words to me the entire trip (except at the very end), which gave me plenty of time to watch movies, take naps, relax, etc... We arrived in Amsterdam much later than expected and by the time we got off the plane, my connecting flight to Paris had left. I then proceeded to stand in the Transfer line for over an hour until one of five blonde-haired, blue-eyed airport workers assisted me (very Dutch... Holland times a hundred!). The Amsterdam airport was an experience and I've never been so ready to leave one place. I finally got a new flight which was then delayed because of the snow in Paris. After sleeping on the plane for an hour, I arrived in Paris 4 hours later than I was originally supposed to. It was then that the worst news of the day came to be: my luggage hadn't made it. So I stood in line for another 45 minutes to obtain a claim. I then made a beeline for the train station. It was 12:50 p.m. and my train was supposed to leave at 1:15 p.m. The line was out the door and I knew there was absolutely no way I would make it. So I cut about 50 people in line and snuck around to the far end where I proceeded to beg the woman to give me a ticket. I'm sure I looked a mess and she gave in (such a god-send). I grabbed the ticket and ran to the train station which was frigidly cold. A three hour train ride took me to Nantes, a taxi to the IES center, and a car to my host family's home. And that was my very long, no-good, bad day.

On a more positive note, France is beautiful. It's sunny and the skies are blue (very different from Michigan). Some of the trees even have leaves. My host family came to pick me up at the IES center last night and I was so flustered I started to say "merci" rather than "bonjour." So much for a good first impression. I managed to hold my own, though, and caught on to the "kiss on each cheek" greeting that they do here. They drove me around Nantes and showed me the downtown and some of the historical highlights. Everything was so pretty - the buildings are gorgeous and everything is lit up and well-kept. When we arrived home, they gave me a tour of the house; I love my room. It's very spacious and painted white/lime-green. The bedspread is red and there are black shelves that tie it all together... very chic, in my opinion. I was able to unpack what I had (a backpack) and then we had dinner. Dinner was an ordeal to say the least. We had soup (not my favorite) and potatoes with melted cheese and ham. Then we had a pastry cake. Tradition goes that a little figurine is baked into the cake... the youngest child then goes under the table and says each person's name. Each slice of pie is distributed in that order and whoever has the petit figurine gets to be "le roi" or king. He/she wears a play crown. :)

My family is incredibly sweet. There are four kids (19, 17, 15, 12). The oldest three are girls (Marie-Emmanuelle, Tiphaine, Adelaide) and the youngest one is a boy (Thibault). The mom (Mme. Robert) is very welcoming and motherly. The oldest girls are very patient with my atrocious French. I think they can understand what I'm trying to say more than the parents can. Overall, though, they are very sweet. They've been incredibly helpful with the luggage ordeal and have lent me pajamas, boots, etc... Listening to French all the time is quite tiring... my brain feels very overwhelmed. I was praying this morning and halfway through, my mind switched to French! It's strange not being able to speak a mix but being forced to speak the one I don't know very well. Many of our conversations thus far consist of me answering with one word. But I'm sure the language barrier will get better with time.

This afternoon, our program is taking all the IES students to Tours, France. For the next few days, we'll tour famous castles in the area and have Orientation. I'll be back Sunday evening and will write more then.

I hope all is well with every one of you!
I'm already looking forward to seeing you when I return. :)

Madelyn