After a good night's sleep, Madame was able to join Jeanne and the librarian from our sister school at mass. It was a very nice Pentecost Sunday. We also saw Melissa and her host brother at mass. During the service, the priest invited all those who were just confirmed and those who were confirmed last year to come forward for the intecessory prayer. When he learned that Jeanne would be confirmed in 2 weeks, he invited her as well and then he invited Madame forwward as well as a "visiting American". After mass, Madame got caught up on the activities the girls have been doing and she stressed that the girls need oto post messages to the blog!
The librarian and her husband joined Madame and the teacher hosting Madame (Laure-Helene) for a garden lunch of mango chicken and rice with French cheese and fresh strawberries. Miam! Later, Madame went with Laure-Helene and her husband to visit the town of Compiegne where there was a wine and cheese festival. Then, they went to a small village festival outside Compiegne where there was some really wonderful theatre. Laure Helene and her husband have invited two English teachers to dinner and Madame is ready now to enjoy their company and eat some French barbecue! (Hoping as well that the girls will document their experiences of the last two days here at our blog.
This is Jessie.
ReplyDeleteToday, I slept late (9:30-ish, I think). I ate breakfast and then I went to the supermarket with Cassandre and her mother to buy food for the barbecue at Cassandre's grandparents' house. We also bought bread at the boulangerie. Then we went to a small park with Elodie while waiting for more people to arrive.
After twenty or thirty minutes, we went to the house and talked with the others and ate chips. There were 10 or 11 of us: Jeanne, Melissa, and I were the Americans there. Then we ate beef and pork kabobs, bacon, and sausage. Afterwards, we had ice cream, talked, danced, sang, and walked around.
Pierre and Melissa left first, then Alison and Jeanne, and then Cassandre and I left.
This evening we have watched TV and read some booklets about La Somme. For supper we had leftovers from the barbecue with tiramisu for dessert.
Jessie, have you noticed that the similarities of the two cultures (American and French)are greater than the differences? Your post describes what families do all over the world on Sundays! Your mom wrote me a note on facebook saying that you are getting to hear/speak a bit of Spanish too? That's confusing isn't it? But you'll get used to it as you learn more of both of the languages - weird how your brain will put the languages in the right filing cabinet.
ReplyDeleteSunday was a very relaxing day. Jet lag caught up with me that day and ATE MY LUNCH! Noemie (my partner), Charlotte, Stephanie, and I all went to the 'disco' last night. We were out dancing for alot of saturday night and came home late.I set an alarm for Sunday morning, determined to get up at a reasonable hour. When I woke up it was, to my horrid surprise, six o clock in the evening! It goes without saying that I was very embarassed having been so rude to (literally) sleep the day away, but thankfully, my host family understood.
ReplyDeleteThat evening, Noemie's entire family (all of whom live within a ten kilometer radius) came to visit. They told me this was the norm for their Sundays. Most of us chatted, while the guys played soccer with one of the dogs. Even though I'm 3000 miles away from home (rough estimate), it still felt like home because, in reality, people have more similarities than dfferences. Laughter is definitely a universal language.
Jessie again.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone on the trip has noticed all the similarities. My host family and I talked about some of the differences one evening while eating supper, but the similarities seem much more prominent in everyday life!
Two of the girls on the trip were born in Ecuador, so I have heard them speaking Spanish to each other, and I have also listened to some of the music in Spanish that they have on their ipods. It was confusing at first, but now it is easier to sort out.