After a picnic lunch in front of the school, we headed to the Archives of the Picardie Region for an afternoon of historical research. The Archives are located in a former nunnery and we had a French researcher to guide us through our exploration of first-hand source materials. The French students were with us, so the all the students broke into three groups to study three different themes: The destruction of the war and reconstruction, the daily life of a solodier at the front, and the obligation to remember. Students got to look at photographs from WWI, letters from first-hand witnesses, the census of 1910 & 1900, the newspaper published for French soldiers at the front, postcards from the period, etc. Once the groups had fully explored their topic, they shared what they had learned as a group. It was very informative and we all walked away with a better idea of the experience of WWI in the Picardie region.
Afterwards, we went on a brief walking tour of Amiens and we got to sit in a French cafe, have some refreshments, and feel kind of "French".
On the way home, with Madame Coadou driving a 9 person bus and Madame Robillard driving Ms. Coadou's car, the latter automobile got a flat tire and a very nice Frenchman fixed it so we could continue on our way back to Montdidier. Upon our return, everyone went back to their respective families and homes. 
This is Jessie.
ReplyDeleteI had math first AND second hours -- first hour with our partners in premier L, and second hour with the class in terminal ES. It was very cool to see the slightly different methods used in the calculus class and to hear the familiar terms in French. It was kind of a business calc class -- first there would be a problem that was straight calculus, and then the next problem would relate it to business or economics.
Third hour everyone talked and look at a bunch of pictures that have been taken this week while we have been with our French partners.
Fourth hour was Spanish class. I think I understood everything said in that hour, which was very exciting. (However, it always threw me a little bit when the teacher switched from French to Spanish and back and I didn't notice until about 5 seconds after she had made the change.) The class was studying romances and corridos (similar types of songs) and the Mexican Revolution; since I covered both topics at school this past year, this was particulary exciting.
At the archives, I was in a group with Jeanne, Alison, and Cassandre. Our topic was destruction and reconstruction. We looked at photos of destruction and temporary housing, and we compared two census documents, one from 1911 and one from 1921.
At the cafe, I had hot chocolate.