The Last First Week of Classes of My Undergrad Career!

So I know its been a while since I've written, but I have a legitimate excuse. Did I mention that I'm taking 21 credit hours this semester? And, lest we forget, I have rehearsals every day except Mondays. Well, this week started out pretty well. We didn't have classes on Monday because of MLKJ day, so my friends Juan, Amy and I went out to Hamburger Mary's late Sunday night for some MaryOke (Karaoke for those of you who couldn't figure it out). Hamburger Mary's is this awesome diner/bar/ cool hang out that has free karaoke on Sunday and Monday nights. I went once last semester on Labor Day weekend to see a visiting friend who graduated and moved to New York 2 years ago. That Sunday was the day I was introduced to the amazingness that is Hamburger Mary's. They have the biggest collection of karaoke songs I've ever seen! They even have songs from Aladdin! Anyway last Sunday we got there too late and closing time (2 AM) rolled around right before I was supposed to sing! I cried inside a little because I've been dying to go back there since the first time, but everyone had class on Monday and Thursday morning so they couldn't go. Of course because it was a holiday weekend and no one had to work the next day the place was crowded! Next time we're going early enough so we can get 2 or more songs in like some of the other people there! New Goal!
Tuesday was the official start of the year. It was a bit overwhelming. I had a long day filled with 4 classes. My first class was Quantitative Literacy- sounds easy right? I thought so. Nope! Its definitely real math that requires a graphing calculator and major brain work. The professor is really chill, though, and he told us straight up that we didn't have to come to class all the time and that we could make up any quizzes or exams that we missed. Every class that I had up to this point took attendance and graded us based on it. Of course I'll probably still go every day because math is not my strong point so I need all the examples I can get. I had to go to a costume fitting after that which was interesting. I found out that none of my clothes will be distressed for the show, so I can use whatever I like in my wardrobe without fear! Thank God! Next was my Sex and Gender Differences and Similarities class which seems cool. The professor let us out of class an hour early! Meaning we were only there for 15 minutes. Playwriting, my third class of the day, may just be my new favorite. We all were given composition journals which we are supposed to write in every day because we are writers now (if we weren't already). I love being able to use my creativity for classes. I already have a ton of ideas. Now all I have to do is pick one to use as the one act play that will be put on at the end of the semester!!! The end of the day was kind of melancholy for me because I ran into Lia who was on her way to rehearsal while I had to head downtown to my Intro to Audio Production class. I told Lia to make sure I wasn't put in the back all the time since I wasn't there lol. I hate missing rehearsal! It made it hard to enjoy the class, which does seem like its going to be fun but... I just really didn't want to be there. I had to ask the professor for permission to miss two classes for rehearsals in February- which is a scary thing to do for a once a week class- but he was cool with it. I actually managed to make it to the last 20 minutes of rehearsal. I basically just watched them as they went through the new staging, but it was nice to be there. It just doesn't feel right not to see the cast everyday- except Monday- ya know? Oh and good news: I wasn't ever put in the back lol!
Wednesday was awesome because all I had was my Directing For the Screen class. It seems like its going to be extra fun! The group I'm working with is awesome, and I can't wait to get started. Rehearsal that night was pretty interesting.  Sadly, Jake wasn't there for most of it, but he showed up at the very end! Apparently everyone had last names now so Jamal and I were the only ones who were last name-less because we both weren't there for Tuesdays rehearsal- even though I kind of was. I still need to get on that. Any ideas? My characters name is Rachel and I'm an English professor at Southeastern Louisiana University.  First off, there is a scene where we are all in our chairs like we are waiting in a line for gas. Somebody realized that all of the black characters were at the front of the line and it looked very segregated! Ironic right? We had to change that up a bit, but it was hilarious when it was pointed out. We spent a lot of time on the floor because there's a scene where we imitate the levees breaking and the whole cast falls to the floor where they stand. So we spent a lot of time slowly getting up with the dialog and....we actually get to go off stage now!!!! Originally the plan was for us all to stay on stage the whole time, but for some of the scenes it just didn't make sense. This figuring out stuff as you go and ensemble interpretation and inspiration gets tough sometimes. There were moments where we'd all look at each other like: what do we do in this moment now? We got through it and things started to feel more natural to us. All in all, it was a pretty productive rehearsal.
Thursday night was really rough. We kind of dragged through getting the staging done and it took forever. People were confused, slap happy, and frustrated. I think Ann started to get irritated with us at times- after all, we are a very chatty cast. I had to use my reading glasses for the role of Grandmother which was tough because they are legit glasses, and I have to make sure I don't actually look through them to read from my Bible because they hurt my eyes. There was this hilarious moment when we were staging the part in the Superdome where Ann asked Kyle to reenact a rape scene with Kelsey. Now a lot of you may not know Kyle, but he's one of the sweetest, prettiest, doe- eyed boys I've ever met. Plus he's gay. So him playing a rapist was so out of character. We all cracked up for a good 5 minutes. When it came time for him to play out the moment, I think ever body turned to watch him, even though we were all supposed to be in character, and we just died!!!! Here's this sweet boy (who, by the way, has to grow facial hair for his character- which he's never done before) awkwardly chasing Kelsey off stage in what he think is the way of the rapist! We all just fell apart! I could barely breathe! Every time, I swear, they tried something a little different, but the results were the same- laughter. Finally we got to the end of part 5. We've still got a long way to go, and we move into the theatre tomorrow!!!! We did more work with costumes this afternoon, and everyone was given 20 bucks to buy what we need at thrift stores. I had Audition Seminar this morning which was fun- getting trained in how to be professional and skilled in auditions. I could really use that! lol I also randomly decided to audition for "The Vagina Monologues." I figured its senior year, it doesn't conflict with Katrina, so why not? Besides, I could use the extra practice auditioning. I'll find out tomorrow if I got it or not. We'll I have 25 minutes before I have to go to rehearsal. Time for a power nap!  Later my lovelies....

Week 1 Complete!!!

Wow so a bunch of awesomeness has ensued since my last post. So rehearsal has gotten very interesting, and we've been working on the wildest movement exercises. For example we had to jog at different speeds up and down our individual lanes in the theatre space. And we had to move around the space at different speeds, levels, tempos- crawling, hopping, whatever. We finally finished When the Levees Broke and we started working on staging the first part of the show. At first we just started working on moving around with the chairs. Each person has a chair and we use them to tell our story. We did chair work for what seemed like hours... divided into two groups we would work on running, walking and moving slowly with the chair in our lanes. Then we could walk wherever we wanted and start or stop and sit when ever. The objective was to develop natural, kinesthetic responses to each other with beats and patterns and forms with the placement of our chairs. We would pick up the beat or respond to the beat of someone close to us. It was really interesting and fun to play with. Its nice to have some staging down, and the repetition of the work is helping me to get my lines memorized. We have to be off book by next Sunday.
On Friday night we had what we like to call "Party: The P Word." We all met up at Ryan's apartment and engaged in revelry and bonding. We danced, played games, and, at the end of the night, made a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts- we like to call them "Glazed Yeast Raised Rings" because our stage managers provided breakfast for us the first day and the doughnuts they bought were called that instead of just simply doughnuts.  I ordered the 10 Munchkins for $1.59 and shared with everyone. The guy gave me like 16 Munchkins! Friday night was out of control but super fun and unforgettable. Luckily, Ann, our director, changed the call for rehearsal on Saturday and Sunday so that it was just 12-5 instead of 10-5 with an hour lunch break. Last night all of us were exhausted because our movement work was extreme, so I chilled at home and watched Inglorious Basterds and The Dark Knight with my friend Andrew. Today we had reached a breaking point. Our energy level was super low and we mainly worked on staging. The minutes seemed to drag, but when 5 finally rolled around, we were exasperated. Its been a long week, and we've all been in it together. We really came together as an ensemble and it can only go up from here! I'm so excited, and I love the cast, but I am so grateful for having Monday's off. Unfortunately, I have a night class on Tuesdays at the downtown campus, so I have to miss Tuesday rehearsals for two weeks. I have to talk to my professor this week about missing 2 weeks of class. I heard he's a very chill, understanding guy so I hopefully won't have anything to worry about. Well, I am in dire need of a nap. Everybody has moved back in and the grind will start up again soon, so I need to catch sleep whenever I can. Later!

Cast Bonding and Wild Movement Work!

So today was very different. At rehearsal we started off with the documentary and some dialect work. We talked about what we did for break in our General Southern Dialect. Most of the cast saw Avatar over break, and there was a general consensus of LOVED IT! Its one of those movies that you just have to experience in theaters you know? You have to do the 3D and see it on the biggest screen possible. I saw it about a week after  it came back and I wish I could afford to see it several times more! Apparently they had to leave out some stuff, namely from the love scene, so that it could maintain a PG-13 rating. Its like Pocahontas with humans and blue aliens. It awesome! Anyway back to the subject at hand, so after dialect work we did a ton of movement. For lunch we all went to Chipotle for lunch and then worked on a bunch more movement exercise after lunch. We only worked on the text for like 20 minutes or so at the end. Afterward, most of the cast went over to Emily's apartment and attempted to All the King's Men to study the dialect. It movie was so bad we didn't make it through the opening credits before we started and we ended up just talking for close to 3 hours. We all laughed so hard while we were together. We certainly have enough inside jokes to get us started! Its gonna be a fun rehearsal process! Now I'm getting caught up on BSG Season 4. That's Battlestar Galactica for those on the outskies. Alright my lovlies, that's it for today!

First Day of Rehearsals!!!!

So today was big and exciting. I started rehearsal for Katrina: The K Word today! For the next 5 days I'll be in rehearsal from 10-5! Whew grueling work, eh? Actually its really fun. We did a read through of the play with the entire cast in the morning and went over the stage, music, and costume designs with all of the designers for the show. I can't wait for everything to come together because as amazing as it all looks and sounds on paper, I bet it'll be phenomenal on the stage. Some of the images Lee Keenan, our lighting designer put up to show us were stunning. There was an image of a refrigerator in a tree! There were so many sad photographs but they had power to them. Apparently there is going to be a jazz band set up at the back of the stage in the beginning of the show, and the instruments are going to fly out. The design concept is pretty extraordinary. The music samples Misha, played for us were great. He wants to have instruments sort of disappear as people disappear in the show. He even played a track for us that was the sound of water being used to create a beat. We get to design our own costumes which is surprisingly quite the challenge. We had to bring anything from home that we think would work for our characters and what we didn't mind having distressed. I have quite the attachment to most of my clothes, so it'll be hard to choose what to use. Luckily we each will be given $20 dollars to go to thrift stores and find things. My character is a teacher with a Jewish mother so it will be interesting to see what I end up with.

Most of the cast went to Subway for lunch and we had a good time talking about "Glee" (best show ever!), Kate Winslet (my all time favorite actress), and some other shows. It was a good bonding experience. After lunch we worked on our General Southern Dialect with the Audra, the dialect coach. A Southern dialect isn't as easy as it sounds. Yeah, there are a bunch of things that are simple to say with a Southern twang, but there are a few things that are surprisingly difficult. We worked on it together and it was pretty hilarious at times. After a short break, we started watching some of the 5 hour long Spike Lee documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. It was so powerfully moving, I almost cried several times. Saying certain things in character is one thing, but a lot of the images we describe were hard to imagine because they were so horrible. This documentary made everything real for me. Now I can own what I say as my character in way. Watching that documentary made me so angry! I cannot believe America allowed this tragedy to happen. So many people died unnecessarily. I'm really glad I get to be in this show so that I can spread the word about the truth of Katrina to people.

Everyone in the cast seems really nice. There are 12 of us, 6 girls and 6 guys. I already knew most of the people who are involved but there are a few new faces who are only theatre minors or not even in the department. I think this week of work is going to bring us together. This performance is an ensemble piece so I think its important for all of us to have a strong connection. There is no main character. We are all very important to the story. I can't wait to see what happens as the show progresses. Tonight, Lia, one of my fellow cast mates, hung out with me and we watched Bride and Prejudice. She loved it! We had a good time and we talked a bunch. She lives in the apartment building right next to my dorm, so I have someone to walk to and from rehearsals with! Tomorrow I think we are going to have a cast bonding night of some sort. I'll keep you posted. I'm going to try to post everyday if not every other day, but we'll see what happens. Now I must be off to bed. I need my rest so I can get up bright and early for rehearsal tomorrow. We are going to work on movement and dialect and watch some more of the documentary! Good night!

A Year Has Passed at Last

So its has been exactly one year from today since I arrived in Paris, France for the first time in my life. One year since one of the dreams I'd been holding on to since grade school had finally become a reality. I can remember every minute detail as if it was yesterday:

The first smell that wasn't so pleasant but then the smells of the perfumeries overcame me. The experience in the tiny airport bathroom with my huge suitcases. Going up and down the stairless escalators, waiting 3 hours in the freezing cold of the Charles de Gaulle train station, nearly getting on the wrong train, getting on the wrong car and having to drag all of my baggage through 3 train cars -bumping into annoyed French citizens in the process but being aided by an older lady, trying not to fall asleep on the train for fear that someone would try to steal my stuff but falling asleep anyway, having my first train ticket stamped, arriving in Nantes for the first time and going to the wrong side of the train station, getting directed by Samuel- our activities director- to the line for taxi cabs, meeting Kathleen, Katherine, and Heather while waiting in line for a cab, ending up in a cab all by myself and driving through Nantes for the first time- everything was so new and unfamiliar to me but now its like a 3rd home to me, paying the cab driver 8 euros, taking the tiniest elevator possible up to the 3rd floor of 7 rue de Cadineers with my baggage, arriving at IES and exploring the place and the people, getting online and waiting for my host family to pick me up, talking to Kathleen for a while, being one of the last kids to be picked up- it felt like grade school all over again where you wait in anticipation for your parents to get you and how much they love you more than their work is based on how early they arrive lol- and being one of the last ones picked up, meeting my host mom for the first time and walking to the car with her while she spoke- and I mustn't forget her surprise at the weight of my baggage, the car ride to the house where she says to me basically that I have a lot of work ahead of me- because I understood less than half of what she was saying- arriving at the house where she said "Coucou!" to announce our arrival, the boys all coming downstairs to greet me and faire les bisous with me(the kiss on each cheek) which mortified me because I hadn't bathed in 2 days and I looked like hell, Stefane commencing to carry my suitcases up the stairs and commenting on how heavy my stuff was, being shown around the house, falling into bed, taking a shower, having my first dinner with my host family while feeling overwhelmed by how much I couldn't understand them, finally going to sleep after being awake for nearly 48 hours.

I am so happy for the experience I had and I feel so lucky. My host family was the perfect fit for me, and I learned so much! Contrary to what everyone assumed when I came back, I am not fluent in French. It takes more than 5 months to become fluent in any language- unless you're the Rain Man or something. Unfortunately, I am not a genius linguist, so I will gladly have to return to France in order to become fluent.

Coming home from France was a lot harder than I thought it'd be. I suffered from a major culture shock- which most people in my life can attest to- where I had a hard time adjusting to the differences between life in France and my life here. It took a while for me to be happy at home. When I came back, I arrived in Chicago and spent the day with some of my friends from school which really helped because we all thought we wouldn't get to see each other until August. I wanted to speak French all the time this summer, and I found myself calling some of my friends from the study abroad program because I felt like they were the only one's who could understand what I was going through. But I guess no body was affected as badly as I was. I remember everyone else being so anxious to go home by the end. I wasn't really. I love exploring new places and learning a language and culture. A film internship with the Heartland film festival kept me slightly busy, but I spent most of the summer looking for jobs and going to Chicago to be with my friends from school. This may sound really strange to some people, but it was my friends that I missed most while I was abroad, but before people get offended let me explain. When I'm in Chicago for school, the only time I ever come home during the semester, if I come home, is Easter. So I hardly ever see my family which I've grown accustom to. On the other hand, my friends at school are like my family away from home, and I see them everyday or close to- so going from seeing them everyday to going 5 months plus without seeing them was really hard. I hope that makes sense. Basically, when you're abroad you are less inclined to miss someone you wouldn't see anyway if you weren't abroad. So summer was tough and hard to enjoy, but then school started and I was so excited to be back! Only problem was, there were a lot of things that had changed since I was gone, and I had to adjust. Like, for example, some of my best friends- Anna, Carrie, Debi, and Meredith- lived several blocks away from me. Before I left I lived with Carrie and Anna, and Debi and Mer lived in the building right next door. We all hung out all the time. Now they all live together in an apartment a good enough distance away that I don't feel comfortable walking to or from there alone at night- but they offer to let me crash whenever. At the beginning though, I felt like the odd man out because I was stuck in the dorms, and I had all random roommates. I was still living next door to the guys minus Carl plus Kevin, who I was always tight with before I left. I had to adjust to some changes dealing with that area as well, but I think its a sign of strength that I've been able to overcome any unpleasant situations. Unfortunately or fortunately- depending on how you look at it, things change. Sometimes you can't find the good in those changes, but hopefully when I look back on it all in the future I'll be able to understand better. Somethings don't survive separation, but the friendships I do have are even stronger because of it.

I'm done with my theatre major, so I wasn't taking any theatre classes this semester. I wasn't getting cast in anything and I auditioned for everything, so I was afraid I lost it- my skills I mean. I had hoped that once I finally got in a show, people would see what I'm capable of and take me seriously for roles, but it was as if everyone forgot me as Mrs. Dickson in Intimate Apparel last fall. So instead of being in a production, I filmed a documentary on a production at school: Shakespeare's As You Like It. I spent 2 months filming rehearsals and interviews for my senior final film capstone. It was so exciting because I got to blend my two majors together! And on top of all that, I got cast in a show for second semester! I'm going to be in Katrina: The K Word opening February 12th, 2010. It's about Hurricane Katrina survivors recounting their experience. Its very different from any other show I've seen or done. There are no real relationships or character developments as I see it. Its more like story telling and reenactment. My character fled to safety and stayed there till everything calmed, so I don't speak as much as the others in my main character, but each actor is assigned a few minor characters for different scenes that are played out. Rehearsals start next Tuesday, so I'm excited. I'll also be editing my documentary this semester, so I'll be extra busy. On top of that, I'm taking 21 credit hours! 6 of which are theatre classes! I plan on keeping my blog updated as I count down my last semester of college. Only T-128 days till graduation Friday, May 14th. My goal is to make everyday count. Well, its 2 in the afternoon, and I'm still in bed! I better get started!

12 More hours left in France OMG!!!!

I'm so not ready to leave!!! I'm so hhappy and content to stay with my host family and explore more of Nantes and France! I would have liked to stay for a few more weeks in Europe, but my awesome film internship starts on Monday so I have to return to Indy this weekend. I'm so excited to see my friends and family though!! I'm so anxious to just get my baggage on the plane and not deal with the weight. This week has been so bitter sweet. I had finals which were a major pain- like pulling teeth really!! I made puppy chow for my students in my favorite class, and they loved it!!! On Tuesday I met up with my French friend Justine and we went to La Maison for the last time. We went straight for the bathtub! It was so great to see her before I leave! The teachers from my internship took me and another student from IEs too! The dinner was great and we had a fabulous time. We had two bottles of wine, a creole salad, lamb with pineapples and tomatoes I think (it was awesome!), and incredible chocolate cake! It was so strange going out with teachers (one of them is my Grammar teacher at IES too)! They were so normal and chill. We had some good laughs. I'm really going to miss working with them. Wednesday I had my final dinner with my host family. Per my request, we had Raclette!!!! I was so happy, but I ate waaaaaay too much! I couldn't stand! I didn't even eat breakfast the next morning! On Wednesday, I had lunch with DeeDee- Justine's mom- and Megan at Brioche Doree (the place where we first met DeeDee. It was perfect! Everything was coming full circle! She's so wonderful and we're definitly keeping in touch! I learned a lot from her! I went to the Lieu Unique finally. I don't know if I explained this before, but Nantes is famous for the Petit Beurre cookies made by LU. Well they used to have a huge factory with two big LU towers at the entrance. The cookies are made else where now and the company was bought by Kraft, and one side of the factory was torn down. The half of the LU factory that's left has been turned into a bar, a restaraunt, artsy (really really really artsy) shops, and a place for art expositions. It was very cool, and they even had a piano in a corner for who ever wanted to play. For two euros you can go to the top of the soul surviving tour from the LU factory and get an awesome panoramic view of Nantes. The top has big glass windows and you can climb this platform and turn a wheel to move it from window to window to see the city. It was great! Afterwards I went to the Jardin des Plantes with Megan and it was gorgeous! There were loads of different kinds of flowers and it felt like something out of an animated movie with french people in it! I wanted to sing! Instead I filmed :). I stopped at the Musee de Beaux Art one last time. That night was like high school graduation all over again. Everyone from IES had dinner sur L'Edre (on the river Erdre) We went on this grand boat with two levels of chique tables for dinner and everyone was dressed to the nines! It was fabulous! A three hour boat ride seeing the many chateux and the Fleuris de Beaujoire! We ate fois gras which was surprisingly delicious, the best salmon I've ever tasted (I'm converted to salmonism), a cheese that I think was chevre (goat cheese), and this awesome rasberry and kiwi cake! We took loads of pictures and gave our gift to Madame Rouchet, Mounsieur Beranger, Beatrice, Julie, Samuel, Mathilde, and Estelle (all of the people who work at IES). It was so wonderful. I couldn't believe I was eating on the Erdre. It was like being on a cruise with out having to pay and getting to go home straight after. I had to say goodbye to Megan last night. I almost cried. We've become so close!! I'm so used to seeing her or talking to her every day! We never got sick of each other. She's the bread to my butter, the cheese to my macoroni, the wine to my heart. I miss her dearly, but we have plans to get together over winter break, and I can't wait!!! 7 months from now, we'll be together again!!! Today was my last day in Nantes. I had my final galette at the same place where I had my very first galette in Nantes (full circle!) I said goodbye to Kathleen Talya and Andrea Navarro (there are two Andrea's so I don't want to forget). I turned in my paper for my class at the Fac, I said goodbye to all of the staff at IES and did some final filming at the Machine de l'Ile and other places with my buddy Kelsea Manns! We waited for the navibus for over an hour but it never came! Its a public transportation boat that goes under the city! It never showed up, so I didn't get to go :( Oh well I accomplished everything else! Thibaud taught me how to dance Le Rock! It was so funny! Its basically swing dancing! Now I can say that I've danced with my host brother! It was very fun. I've said my goodbyes to my whole family, and tomorrow Stephan will take me to the train station. I'm packed and nearly ready to go. All that's left to do is sleep. See you all soon! Gros Bisous!

Trying to get you up to speed!!!!

As some of you may know, I have approximately 6 days left in France before I return to the states and begin an awesome internship with the Heartland Film festival in Indianapolis. So I’ve been having some difficulties finishing my blog post on spring break because it has taken me forever to recount 16 days in full detail from memory and do school work. I know you’ve been missing my frequent posts terribly (haha) so I’ve decided to put you in the know as far as what’s been happening in my life these past 3 weeks. So my first week back in France after break was pretty fun but also stressful. The weekend before classes started, Megan and I had a sleepover at my place and we made puppy chow! My host family was afraid to try it, but Thomas, Thibaud, and Solenne liked it! Stephan was the only one who wasn’t a fan. They are all pretty anti peanut butter though! Weird! Solenne, Megan, Thomas and I watched Love Songs in my room and bonded. It was really fun. My theatre devoir à la maison was due the Tuesday after I got back from spring break, so I worked really hard to finish that. My students and I played a fun improv game in English that they ended up loving! I finally returned to conversation club after a month hiatus (we played Pictionary and a game kind of like scatergories, and I went out to this awesome creperie called St. Croix with my Megan, Kathleen, Andrew and our French friend Nicolas. I also registered for classes and got almost everything I wanted- Thank God. I went to observe this French school called Sacre Cœur with my stage pedagogique class and we got to make cake with a cooking class! It was so fun! We had to wear hairnets and pair off with a student. My girl was pretty cool but a little fast for her age. She wants to be a fireman. The facilities were incredible. They had several kitchen stations with the stove/oven, sink, and cooking supplies but they also had washing machines and driers so they can learn how to do the laundry correctly. They even had to be tested on how to properly clean baby bottles. Only one guy was taking the class- that’s a bit backwards if you ask me. I saw a play called the Mouse Trap with French actors performing in English. One of the women who works at IES was in the play and she was awesome! Her accent was incredible. It was pretty entertaining to hear the other French people try to force a British accent. One of the guys sounded like he was mentally handicapped! Another guy had an awesome British Beatles accent but his character was crazy!!! This other woman was supposed to be a foreigner in the play, and she touching herself and making funny noises and saying crazy things throughout the play. I laughed the entire play due to the ridiculous character choices. I watched this movie at IES called La Boum, and it was awesome! I loved it so much and I could follow the entire movie with out English subtitles. I bought this awesome cd/dvd by Renan Luce (a great French singer whose music is on my playlist if you want to check him out). Thursday when I went to my stage, everything was fun in the morning- we played Pictionary, hangman, and mad-libs. But in the afternoon, this crazy student of mine showed me a picture of himself holding a gun to his head, and then he told me that he had the gun in his backpack!!!! I was freaking out inside, but remained calm during my class. After my class, I told the teacher about it, and she said that she knows his dad wasn’t please about the photo and that she had already seen it! I was like okaaay…. But she assumed that he was kidding about having the gun in his bag. Joke or no joke, that kid would have been O-U-T out in the states. Luckily I would never have that class again! I finally returned to my class at the Fac, and I understood the majority of what my prof said this time! Too bad it was the last class I was attending because the first two Fridays in May are national holidays where no one works. He talked about Titanic, Martin Scorcese, and the Last Tango in Paris a lot! I’m so glad I’m in a French cinema class and we talk about American films…..not. I started filming Nantes, my friends and my family. I can’t wait to show the video to everyone, my host family was hilarious! So that Friday night, I went to La Maison with Megan and Kathleen and we got to have drinks in the bathtub! Yay. I finally got to go to Park de Proces that weekend which was pretty. There were so many colorful flowers and a big pond. Saturday night I went to a Breton dancing gathering with our activities coordinator for IES, Samuel. Megan, me and a bunch of other girls learned how to dance while holding each other’s pinkies! It was so strange and very much like Irish dancing. There were a bunch of people in this school gym, and there were 3 live bands playing. The music was so cool! It was very Celtic; well, Breton dancing is Celtic so I guess it follows that… Some of the people have death grips with their pinkies and I swear mine where going to be dislocated a couple of times. Everyone was really tightly squeezed together as we danced in circles and loops and waves throughout the gym. The crepes there were big and fresh and really good.

The next week was really busy! I had my job interview for my internship through skype! It was a great success!- obviously if I got the job! Conversation club that week was awesome because we played this game called Le Loup Garous (Werewolf) which is like Mafia (for those of you who know how to play it. Basically everyone is given a card that has there identity on it. You can be a villager, a loup garous, a seer, a matchmaker, or a sorcerer. If you know the rules of Mafia, it’s the same idea. If you don’t, then look them up. It was just the Americans at St. Croix that Tuesday. Kathleen and I made dinner for my host family that week and it was awesome! We had quesadillas- which my family loved- with guacamole and salsa, a fruit salad made with strawberries/pineapples/orange juice/tequila-also really good, and brownies!!! My host family was impressed by the fact that every time I cooked for them it was really good (and it was Mexican both times) because American cuisine is usually considered crappy by the French. They raved over the brownies! That Friday there was no class, almost all the stores and restos were closed, and all public transportation was shut down. Megan and I hung out at my house and had a dance party. This girl named Elizabeth joined us and we watched Velvet Goldmine and part of A Little Romance. It was fun! That night I watched La Boum 2 with Thomas. Yay for bonding. Last Saturday, Nicolas took Megan, Andrew and I along the coast to the many different cities along the ocean. It was a bit chilly outside, but the water was nice, so we stuck our feet in. The sand was very firm and smooth. We didn’t sink at all! There were a lot of windsurfers out and people were racing these mini cars/surfboards on wheels that had huge sails on them so the wind propelled them. It was so cool! I’d never seen anything like it! We saw where some of the biggest ships in the world are made and I couldn’t believe the size of some of them! They looked like horizontal skyscrapers! Our last stop was La Baule where had awesome pizza and good wine! I was so happy to be by the sea! I love the beach! On our drive back to my house, we saw prostitutes on a main road!! How crazy is that! Aapparently Nantes has the highest rate of prostitution per capita! And it’s legal! We also saw a bunch of people trying to hitch hike home. It’s so strange how normal that is in France. My host brother Stephan hitch hiked to Paris two weeks ago and just came back last Wednesday.

This past week was the last week of classes. It was so sad because it was my last week with my students at my stage pedagogique and it was the last week of conversation club. My students and I took photos and exchanged facebook information. I never wanted to leave them! I never realized how much I would love working with them. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life. Conversation Club was a free for all and we just chatted and had Haribou candy. A big group of us went to St. Croix- 10 to be exact- and we made our last night together count. At our last stage pedagogique class, we turned in our devoir à la maison and the professor gave us this chestnut candy! It tasted so good! We watched this documentary on a boarding school in France that is wicked expensive. They have horseback riding, an Olympic size pools, go carting, and aviation classes with real planes! It was intense. Wednesday night was sort of family night. Host families came to IES and we all had little snacks aka really awesome mini pastries. Thursday, my last day of classes, last day of my internship, and my first final (phonetics lab-ugh). I went to go see Incognito with Talya, Kathleen, Megan, Stephanie, Nicolas, Maxime, and his friend Florent. It was probably the funniest French film I’ve ever seen! I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard! Its about this guy who finds the lyrics to a song his friend from ten years ago wrote. His girlfriend here’s him singing it ad helps him become a big star. Suddenly his friend comes back to France and the guy tries to hide his fame from his friend the entire movie. It is awesome! I wish I could go see it again! And I understood practically everything! Friday there were no classes because May 8^th is when WWII ended. Everyone from IES went on our final fieldtrip to Clisson. It was so pretty. There’s a river that runs through it and people were kayaking or canoeing. There was a man made kayak/canoe chute for people to go down a mini water fall. It was cute. We actually sat on the chute later that day. We saw a really old chateau and checked out a cool market. I bought this delectable pastry called a Bermuda and it was filled with strawberry goodness. Megan, Kathleen, Andrew, Michel, Moy, and I hung out at a café for a while before exploring the wood trails. We discovered a cemetery, a seesaw, multilevel bars (which we tried to do pull ups on and do flips and things like in grade school), and some cool things to climb. It was a pretty steep trek which was not that fun in my sandals but I guess it was worth it. We walked along the river on our way back to the bus. Our next stop was a vineyard where Muscadet is made. It was so interesting. The land was covered in grape plants! Some of the little grape trees were over a hundred years old! The property was gorgeous, and all the flowers were in bloom. A couple of us discovered an underground cave/room with bats in it. We checked out- it was scary like out of a horror film where stupid teenagers die. Obviously I lived to tell the tale but I can’t say the same for the others…. Just kidding! We saw the machines that make the wine, the barrels that hold the wine, and a room with over 30,000 wine bottles- talk about intense. We got many demi glasses of free white wine, and I loved it! Muscadet is at the top of my list! I’ve really grown to appreciate wine during my sejour in France. I used to hate it! When we returned to Nantes, Kathleen and I tried new pastries at the Vienoiserie by IES. I got a Reliegeuse and it was the food of the gods! Its these two balls, a small one on top of a big one, filled with chocolate mousse and decorated on the outside with chocolate. It’s pretty much my new favorite thing. That night, Lauren, Michel, Megan, and I went to this bar called Web Ellis where people go to watch rugby. The bars were covered in rugby game pictures, and the people were all so chill and nice. They insisted on speaking to us in English though. Since it was us girls’ first time there, we got a free shot of what they call shrek poop. Michel just brought it over and said, “don’t ask what it is, just drink it.” We did, and it was awesome! It tasked like mint chocolate chip candy- like those Andes you get at Olive Garden. It was a fun night. Yesterday Megan and I went to the market at Talensac. It was incredible! They had antiques, old postcards with images of different parts of France before and after the war, jewelry vendors, clothing vendors, painters, and loads of food! Fresh fruit as far as the eye could see, live sea food, whole cow carcasses, chickens, Arab cuisine, wine, bread, honey- you name it, they have it (save American cuisine. We saw this guy skinning and gutting live eels!!!! They were still moving when he did it, and they continued to move a bit post mortem. Bleh! We got some strawberries and lettuce for dinner, and I had this awesome strawberry pastry thing that made my taste buds do a dance! We went back to Megan’s house for lunch and ate in the garden with her host parents. We got this potato and cheese thing from Talensac and it was incredible! I love French food!!! It’ll be so hard to leave it. After lunch we went to Parc de la Gaudinière and explored. The flowers were beautiful and the stream was so peaceful. We took loads of pictures! We got a few things from the grocery at Carrefour for dinner and parted ways to take a nap and study. That evening we met up with Michel and went to his house to make dinner. He took us down this wooded path that seemed to go on forever! Finally we made it to his host family’s house – he had it all to himself this weekend- and cooked an awesome dinner while listening to good music. That night we met up with Nicolas and Florent and went to Hangar à Bananes. Its on this island in the middle of the Loire near the Île de la Machine and it’s a big hangar divided into 7 bars with different ambiences, 3 restaurants, and a dance club. It was huge and right on the river! We went to 3 different bars before finding a good one to chill at called the Altercafe. We had a lot of fun, and I’d say it was a great way to spend my last Saturday in Nantes! We’ll now, you’re almost fully up to speed. I’ll get the post on spring break up ASAP. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you guys! Wish me luck on finals and my last week in France tear*tear*. Gros Bisous!