Protest Impersonator

Quartier Bouffet seemed unusually tranquil as Caitlin and I lazily meandered through les rues Thursday afternoon. All of my university classes for the day had been canceled because of la grève-a nationwide strike. Thus far I had been a little disappointed with la grève: All of the trams were running, the shops we’re open, and the city was peaceful. But just as we left the quarter and turned onto the main rue, I felt the change. Finally there were people, a steady stream of them was heading towards centre ville. Caitlin and I exchanged excited glances and I suppressed a shriek of excitement, as we followed the flow to the demonstration. As we drew nearer, the crowd thickened and voices rose. There were vans haphazardly parked throughout the city’s main boulevard, signs and flags were waving high above the crowd. The sea of people—now virtually shoulder to shoulder—extended for hundreds of meters! Cries from the crowd could be heard above the beating French reggae. Bottle rockets and cap guns fired sporadically, sometimes they were far away, and sometimes they were a little too close for comfort. Up until this point, I had tried to act natural and stick out too much as a tourist, but now I couldn’t help but whip out my camera, this was all way too exciting to go undocumented!

Lycée and university students were there protesting the decaying educational standards. (The French are very proud of their exceptional and rigorous public education system). Les fonctionnaires (government employees) were protesting the diminishing hours and salaries provided par l’état. Many were there to cry out for help and unionization to get through the economic crisis. Others filled the space and gave moral support to their fellow countrymen, there were old men and women, children, and even mothers with babies in strollers were present! One group of dramatic protesters especially intrigued me. A group of ‘secret service’ agents were leading a black car where 'Caesar' Nicholas Sarkozy was waving to his followers. In his right hand, he was holding the media (which consisted of a man tied up as a hostage inside of an empty television set) on a leash. His followers were wearing sheep masks, nodding their heads and baaahaha-ing obediently. Caitlin and I got swept along with the fifty or so sheep that were following his parade so we decided to go along with the protest for a tour around the block. I can’t say I really follow French politics nor do I have any sort of row with Sarkozy, but it was absolutely thrilling to join the protest either way. The only way I would have felt more French was if I had been smoking a cigarette. What a great day! It may have even been more exciting than a snow day.

I did have to walk home though. No trams. I didn’t have to worry about getting lost though since I could just walk the tracks the whole way home along with the real frenchies :)

Some things never change...

I was supposed to visit Mont St. Michel yesterday with the IES group, but I messed up my alarm and didn't wake up until 8...the bus left at 7:45. Unfortunately, I didn't have X-tina to come knock on my door and get me out bed to catch the bus :(

Also, I left the house in a frenzy Friday morning and couldn't find my cell phone (sound familiar?). So I left without it on the day that they happened to be doing cell phone safety checks, thus failing the safety check. Oh merde.

So I just wanted to let you know that I have managed to remain forgetful and flustered even in a foreign country. Some things never change...

Fresh Food?

The French are sort of weird about the shelf life of food. They insist on buying their bread daily from bakeries where it is made from the freshest ingredients and without preservatives and it isn’t any good 2 days after it has been purchased. Also, they purchase their fish from the market the morning it is to be eaten and bring it home-tail and head included! On the other had, they buy their milk in cardboard boxes. It comes treated so that it can be kept for months in the basement pantry without refrigeration. Also, they absolutely love Roquefort, a cheese that is so moldy it’s actually illegal to sell certain types of it in the United States! But bread is only good the day that it is bought…it’s damn good bread though so I won’t complain.

Les Rues font les regles.

Bonjour a tous !

So this Saturday I witnessed my first French protest. I was on my way to the tram station to go home and the street seemed a little more animated than usual, but I didn’t think anything of it at first. As I approached the station, I could tell that the extra noise wasn’t just the gaiety of a Saturday afternoon, I realized that it was une manifestation (a protest). Over the heads of the crowd, I could see Palestinian flags waving and signs bouncing to the beat of a chanting mob. The train tracks were covered by the mass of people rallying for Palestinian resistance! Having never witnessed anything like this before I had a string of reactions. I was instantly energized and drawn toward the mob. What on earth were these people yelling? As I walked toward the mob I was next struck by fear when I saw a wall of police officers surrounding the mob, it was a peaceful protest, but I was scared all the same. After my brief euphoric infatuation with the protest came to an end I panicked. How can I get home with these people blocking my train?!…was I going to have to walk the whole way?! Luckily, the French are accustomed to these sorts of civil disruptions and were not panicked at all. They had the tram cut into two different branches, each one running to the end of the line and stopping just before the protestors so all I had to do was walk to the next stop. When I got home, my mind was still a flutter with the excitement of the encounter, and the first thing I did was to run to my host mom and tell her about what I had seen. She replied with very little interest, telling me that this sort of things happens all the time. I can’t help but love France a little more because of this. There is something so romantic about a country where people are passionate enough rally and take their beliefs to the street as a part of their daily life. Vive la France where the rues rule the country!

A tout a l'heure!

Lauren

A weekend of Castles and Comraderie

Hello!
It has been awhile since my last post and sooo much has happened, but I will try not to ramble. Almost right after I got to Nantes I and all of the other IES students left for a petit sejour in Tours-a city along the Loire River. It was a glamorous orientation complete with three course meals(2 per day), ice breakers, and castles (also 2 per day). There was also a three hour placement exam, but that is not nearly as exciting as the rest. It was absolutely magnifique to see all of the snow-covered chateaux! The interiors of some of the chateaux were restored and we were able to see the luxurious bedroom of Francois I. What's not so luxurious is that the beautiful bed he slept in also house his wife, his children, maybe an uncle or aunt, his mistress(right alongside his wife, which to me seems positively scandalous), and the royal dogs and cats. I guess families were a little closer back then.
It was also nice to have a weekend to get to know some of the people in my program. There is quite a cornucopia of people who came to study in Nantes. There are some people who are really smart, and also some who aren't so smart. There are some who love to go out, and others who prefer books. Toss in a hipster and some southerners, lost of coasties, a volunteer fanatic and a bro and voila. You have my fellow IES-ers. I am making some friends, but I still don't know everyone's name. It's been a little harder to really connect with people lately because we are forbidden to speak in English. As much as I love French, it is hard for me to really express myself and say exactly what I mean...and that is wearing me out fo sho!

Edit: I like to think that I add a dirty hippie dynamic to the bunch.

Parisien Men

So apparently they don't zip their flies...kinda weird, but if any guys are reading this and want to be chic, just don't bother zipping it next time. Maybe you will get results?

Snow Day in Paris

It SNOWED! I thought it never snowed in Paris but I was proven very wrong recently. My mom and I spent the past couple of days in Paris before she took me to Nantes and it must have snowed at least 3 inches while we were there. My family hosted a French exchange student, Amelie, for a few weeks over the summer and to return the favor to my family, Amelie's mom made sure to show us around the city she calls home for the two days we were visiting Paris. Amelie's mom is a petite and very traditional Taiwanese woman. She is determined and disciplined and has the most endearing mannerisms! Her determination shone through as she ambitiously gave us a tour of Paris. She walked us through the Louvre and the Petit Palais, then down the Champs Elysees and trekked us to the Centre Pompidou. We saw the Pantheon and the Academie Francaise, Notre Dame and soo much more. When my mom and I were getting cold or tired, we would tell her that she was doing too much and it wasn't necessary she would patiently reply, "It give me preasure to do dis for you, you have done so much for Amerie." So we would swallow our complaints with a smile and continue on our grand tour of Paris.
In the end though, I am very have had such an enthusiastic guide who crammed as much as she did in those two snowy days. Paris is such a beautiful city, and it looked so serene by the light of a snowy evening-how many tourists get to see that?

To the people I love

After my third glass of wine and the glamor of New Year's Eve was put on pause, all that was left to pass the time until midnight was the company. Something just didn’t feel quite right. Though my stomach was uncomfortably full, I still felt empty. I looked around the table, pausing for a moment to take in the sight of each of my family members. Each face met me with a dull, distant gaze. Realizing that each one of them had mentally vacated the table, I felt very alone. My mind wandered to my own home that I so eagerly left behind. Up until the week before I left, I couldn’t wait to get away from the Midwestern United States, but I am beginning to realize that I left behind more than a small town college on a hill. More than cold, blustery winter days, and May Day Peace Conference. I left the only place I’ve ever felt at home. I feel like I had really learned to love again, which is something that I had lost for awhile. I learned to love people and to love life. And I mean real love, like how you love your first boyfriend, or your favorite lipstick (if you’re into that sort of thing). So anyway, I guess I just want to say thank you to my ‘family’ that I left back home. You mean so much to me and I wouldn’t be who I am right now without you. I miss you and I will see you again when I come home!
Love,
Lauren
P.S. Happy New Year!!! I hope it's a good one. My New Year's resolution this year is to make my bed every day. Do you think I can do it?