Classes are getting more intense. We had our first quiz in French, got our history homework back, and were told to read 124 pages in our Leonardo da Vinci book. It was last week that I realized I really did have school work here. That in and of itself was like culture shock! Work is not the center of the French culture like it is in the States, and part of coming to France is to experience the culture. However, our professors push us in the classroom. I don't understand how this all makes sense, but that's the reality of the situation.
Apart from class, the week went very well. On Tuesday night about seven of us went to eat with a lady named Michelle. She is from England and lives next door to Le Commerce, which is where our "meal plan" is. At Michelle's we had Moroccan meatballs,rice, a carrot salad, and, the French necessity, bread. For dessert we had an apple and pear crisp that was amazing. We stayed at Michelle's for a long time talking about a lot of random things with Michelle, Dr. Beaujot (the HIS professor), Jessica (our student coordinator), and Dr. Mackaman (Mr. Abbey Program). It is so fun to have our Abbey "community" include our professors. They all make it known that they are available for discussions about religion, history, or the bones under the roads of Pontlevoy (more about that later).
Before we left, Michelle's daughter called her on Skype which is a webcam communication type thing. It's hard to explain, but anyway... Michelle has three kids: two girls, one boy. The youngest daughter, the one we talked to, is in Argentina studying Spanish. It was a very worldwide conversation. There were Americans, a English woman, and a Canadian in France and an English girl in Argentina. Michelle's daughter is very funny. She was telling us how they love
Last Thursday was a very big day in my family! We added our newest member, Jackson Gage Long! It hurts a lot not to be able to see and hold him, but I have to keep telling myself that me being here is more important. This has already been the most eye-opening experience I have had. It has been hard at times to only have sixty English speaking people around. Sometimes we get on each others' nerves and only want to talk to our friends or family back home, but it's not as easy to call someone when you're over seas. I have missed my family a lot. I'm use to being able to call Caroline and tell her little things that happen, or call my dad and tell him to put money in my account, or call my mom just to tell her I'm alive, but I can't do that here, and it sucks. However, I am realizing during all of this that I have taken a lot of this for granted.
Annah, Jordan, and I had a Bible study the other day (I think Elizabeth was asleep). It was the first good talk that I've had about God since I've been here (other than how Catholics during the Black Plague believed in indulgences) and I have missed that too. I read my Bible most nights, but haven't had Him as a constant. After our Bible study we decided to keep each other accountable. It's hard to stay grounded while in a country where most people keep their faith basically a secret. Things will get better though. I am optimistic about that!
On Friday we went on another Loire Alive excursion with Madame Anglin. This time we went to Blois. We saw the chateau and a church that was there. Blois was very different than Tours. Tours is more of a college town. It has lots of stores and bars whereas Blois is a sightseeing place. I wouldn't really consider it a 'tourist attraction' per se, but it does have things to see. The town is beautiful. I got a lot of good pictures from different areas of the town. I walked around for most of the day with Jordan, Annah, Elizabeth, Ryan, and Cody. It was a very fun day. We sang a lot which was quite amusing, especially when Cody would join in!
The last thing I'll leave you with is something mentioned earlier: the bones under the streets of Pontlevoy. In my history class we were discussing the Black Plague. My teacher mentioned how many people died in France (between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population) and this raised the question whether there was a plague cemetary anywhere. Prof Beaujot loves to find out answers to our questions and took a lot of interest in this one because it had to do with Pontlevoy. She came to class the next time and told us that she did not know of any plague cemeteries, mainly because so many people died, they put them in mass graves. However, there is pipe work being done on the roads and the workers told her that as they've been digging, they have come across bones. She asked around and found out that in the 11th century there was a battle against knights nearby. The ones who died are the men to which these bones belong. This is gross, but very cool at the same time. It's very strange to be in a place where so much history has happened! I love it!
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