The Trip to the Mountains...And the Death March

My host family, the Halary's happen to have a long line of home owners in the South of France area. One of their "family homes" happens to be in the mountains near our house in Ustaritz. I can safely say it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

Our dog (Voyou) loves the mountains its the one place he can run free and he gets a lot of food. We go up to the mountains usually to have dinner parties with my host parents friends. The house is being remodeled because it was neglected for a number of years, so we eat on the porch and we make the food over a fire pit (my host father makes the best steak over a fire you have ever tasted!)

My parent do a bang up job of putting on a dinner party. We hauled an entire truck load of food and we prepared it all...but not before we did the death march. My host mother presented our 4 kilometer walk (yes I map quested it!) as a "little hike". I was wearing skinny jeans, no sleeves, and vans sneakers...to say the least I was unprepared for a long...uphill...treacherous....through a stream walk. And I forgot my camera so I have no pictures...so sad. The walk ended in great reward. A beautiful sunset greeted us back at the house.

And we had a dinner that was fit for a king....and my favorite part of the evening we sang. Everyone tried (with not much luck) to teach me basque country songs. I have to tell you Basque is the oddest language I have ever heard. It is not Latin or Greek based.....and experts don't really know where it comes from. All the same the night was filled with a lot of laughter and merriment and I can't wait until we go to the mountains again!

Royan Orientation (Part 2)

I left off on our boat ride home(this is gross but one of the girls who was sitting near me actually threw up I am scared for life...)....this leads up to the best part overall. THE FARRIS WHEEL RIDE!!!! Yes I agree it was a strange way to end this ....interesting day. We got to watch the beginnings of the sunset from 300 feet in the air and our seat was absolutely filled with hilarious Americans. I have to tell you I have never laughed so much in one weekend. and

On with the weekend. When we got back to camp it was time to practice our talents.....or the lack there of. I decided to sing....with a bad cold. No worries everyone one loved my song and said it was the highlight of our talent show. Other acts included a parody of "Call me Maybe", A dance to a very weird French song, the Brazilians doing some sexy dancing, the Asians singing a song from Guam, and the Americans which did some sign language.

(Me singing at the preshow!) Though really the crowning moment of our night is when each country had to sing our national anthem. Us Americans were sure that we were going to kill the competition. Sadly that was not the case. Our rendition of our glorious National anthem was brought to a dead stop at "the rockets red glare" because no one could sing high enough (except me and I stopped because I was hit with an uncontrollable case of the giggles when everyone dropped a key in the middle of the song) It was the most embarrassing and funniest experience of my life. Our talent show/dinner ended at 1 in the morning when I proceeded right to bed with my terrible cough and cold. The next day our activity included lunch....which involved fire and raw seafood. Now when I say that they set our lunch on fire I actually mean they put the mussels on wooden board,covered them with pine needles, and set them on fire.

The most interesting part of all of this is that when they are set on fire they scream! The rotarians assured me that its just the air in their shells being sucked out slowly....gee that's much better! The saddest part of the weekend was saying goodbye. I have never met so many people that understand my feelings so deeply. We are all going through the same thing and we all have the same problems. I am so glad that Rotary gives us the chance to share together at these weekend!

Royan Orientation....Trip of A Lifetime

Okay before I get to telling you about my amazing trip to Royan this past weekend....I have an announcement. I will be posting now on, religiously, every Wednesday. Yay! Okay one more thing a quick story. My host mother happened to be gone this week....which left all of the driving around, school stuff, and (dear God) cooking to my host father. The first night my host father attempted a meal he made a microwave pizza, bacon, and meat from a can. The pizza was raw and cold and the bacon was rock hard, and the meat from a can....well was meat from a can. The next meal he completely gave up and brought home food from his private clinic. We ate patient food for dinner. Needless to say I am making dinner tonight.... On Royan This past weekend was the first of five Rotary gatherings where ALL the exchange students in District 1690 come together and eat, complain, and most importantly laugh. The weekend started with a 4 hour 30 minute drive from my home town of Ustaritz to our host city Royan. Ya Wen and I were the first students to arrive at the camp site. In fact we were there before the host Rotarians. So there we were one large American girl and one very small Taiwanese girl....looking like the odd couple standing in the middle of a bunch of RVs and portable homes.

Thank God we were saved by the head camp organizer who took us in his little go cart to our separate cabins. Here is some pictures of the cabins I took when we got there.

(The room three of us shared)

(Thats gonna be interesting....)

(Emily Anne Does NOT like small showers) I tried to stay out of our cabin as much as possible. When all the students started trickling in we all greeted each other and exchanged pins. Each student needs to bring pins with them to exchange with other students. Mine are little American flags made out of safety pins(they went over great)!The meet and greet was moved over to the dinning hall where we were once again told all of the rules of being an exchange student (there is really only so many times we could be told NO DRINKING< DRIVING< DATING OR DOING DRUGS) Then we retired to our rooms and like good exchange students we all went to bed early and slept all night. There was no "sneaking to others rooms" or "talking until 2 in the morning". Nope just good old sleep. That is all I can say about that night. We all woke up bright and early the next morning...none of us tired of course because we went to bed early. Breakfast we followed with a flurry of activity. We were going on a boat ride! To an island! With a lighthouse! And a 1 mile walk over hard sand in bear feet! No but seriously....it was a long walk....and a bumpy boat ride. But the view was worth it...not really but the friends I made on the way was really worth it. I could not ask for a better group of people. I have never felt so comfortable with strangers.

(The Americans) Part 2 Next Wednesday! Or sooner! Maybe Not!

The First Week of School...Let the Headaches Begin

I am just finishing up a study session with my favorite host brother Pierre. We were working on translation English phrases to French. I am pretty sure I learned more French than he learned English....helping with homework has many advantages. 1. Pierre seems to like me a little better each time we finish! 2. I always learn useful French phrases 3. The pictures in his English book are super funny.... So far in school I have had no homework....this is solely because within the week I have not yet had the same class twice. Before I go any further I just want to say I have wonderful friends that help me whenever...and wherever I need them. I am just saying...when you get stuck in the bathroom stall because the locks are weird and three girls pull from the outside just to make sure you get out in time for class...that is friendship. I also love my school...they are one of the best in the regions and the teachers are super cool.

Okay now that that is out of the way. I can finally tell my loving, adoring, passionate crowd that French school pretty much stinks. I go to school from eight in the morning to six at night. I think taking this much foreign language might damage your brain....permanently. I get massive headaches(I have taken to carrying around tylonal everywhere I go) from all the French. I have a glorious English class once a week for two hours....its like heaven on earth. I am taken from my mine field of unknown French words to an oasis of "English Only" Hallelujah Chorus take it away: When I first started school I was ashamed to tell my classmates that my school finishes four hours before theirs does. But then I started noticing something...hardly anyone plays sports(I mean like lagit varsity...practice every day sports), there is no choir, marching band, real art program, sports teams, or school clubs. All of my friends dont play sports...and they dont really have their hobbies well developed. I realized that even our American school system is not as vigorous(and some what tedious) as our European counterparts, we have something much more important. Our students are more well rounded. I play an instrument, play a sport, I paint almost everyday and I firmly believe my education is as good as the rest of the students. So what should society value more? I am not sure but I know from being in both situations I love finishing at 3:00 in the afternoon. When I finish at 6 I just feel like crawling into bed. But, the other students make it it bearable...we whine and moan together to pass the long hours in the classrooms. We fan each other with our planners to beat the heat. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I understand a little more French each day. I can laugh and speak with my classmates. I can understand a little bit of my teachers lectures. And now I have now learned,with much pride, to tell the dog to GET OUTSIDE (in French of course)!!! Au Revoir

The First Few Days

I first and foremost want to say that my family is AMAZING. Especially my new host mom Blanca...she could possibly be a saint. She is so patient with my broken French. Since I have arrived I have found out the most important aspect of the Halary's life is being active....which I had to become accustom to very quickly. On the first night right after we got off the plane we had what they called a "small get together" at their house. WRONG. It was a party. I sat in a corner....just about ready to die of fatigue, telling everyone all the while I was "okay"(HA). Day two we took it really easy...by easy I mean we awoke at 8 AM and started on the tour of the town by 9. They tried to explain to my the intricacies of a French meal. "A French meal is about Process. First you have the meat, cheese, nuts, bread, more meat, and more bread. Then you have wine. Then you sit down an you have a salad course, with bread. They you have your main meal, which usually consists of meat (like duck, ham, steak, salami, or chicken) a starch (rice, pasta, THIS IS NOT INCLUDING BREAD)bread, and a vegetable. Then you have your fruit and cheese course (okay I have tried a lot of their cheese....let me tell you this, it might smell like a rotting corpse but it really tastes good!) Then you have dessert and some more nuts. Then MORE wine....and usually some other hard liquor." I usually don't even make it through dinner before I start feeling like a stuffed Christmas turkey. Their ten year old son can eat more than me. When we returned from our grand tour of Bayonne it was time to unpack. Blanca found me sprawled asleep on my bed a half and hour later. She didn't wake me up I just found her peering down at me,looking worried about my lifeless body. Though packing was not finished it was time for Blanca and I to prepare dinner. Really it was me watching Blanca moving like a ninja through the kitchen. She moves through that kitchen like a fish moves in water. Here is something weird, we dont eat dinner until 8 or 9 at night....I am usually starving by the time we get there! After dinner I gave the whole family their gifts from America...which they all loved! Yay for See's Candy!It was off to bed for Emily Anne (by now it is 11 PM the family usually stays up past 1 AM including the 10 year old!) Seriously though every person in my family has been amazing...they all try to speak English to me and they are always checking on me its almost like being at home...almost. Here are some thing I miss My Mother and sisters The smell of the ocean (I have been to the beach here and I know it sounds crazy but it doesnt smell the same....) Dry heat Palm trees My room Panera my rabbits my birds English American radio (the French have some weird music) my bed my books and a few other things I hear it gets easier with time. The people here have made it easy to love France...I hope I have the strength to love it the way they do. Here are some pictures of my new home

Side yard

The pool

Where we eat a lot of our meals

My Room....its huge

View from my rooms window I am going to sign off for now next time I am going to tell you about our trip to the ocean! Au Revoir! Emily Anne

The Epic Journey (Part 2)

16 hours in. N o food....no sleep....and a viscous headache and I still have two flights to go. When I got off the plane from my eight hour flight we were immediately on the move...I darted to catch up with a group of blue jackets...I cannot imagine anything more scary that being alone in a ginormous foreign airport by myself. We made our way across the airport to customs where they didn't even give us a second glance. We then picked up ALL of our bags at the carousel. Once our group got every last suitcase we pushed, drug, and rolled our suitcases to the nearest airport map. My heart dropped to my knees when I saw where the next terminal was. A long walk and two small train rides away.

(My Terminal) I decided to face the 1 mile walk to the next terminal with two suitcases WITHOUT a cart....bad choice. Halfway through our journey those who chose carts had to ditch them. You know those annoying poles that prevent carts going places? Yes they were everywhere. And escalators. Do you know how hard it is to drag two suitcases and two carryon's up two little stairs? Not as hard as the girl who had four suitcases! This girl Melissa had a HUGE duffel that weighed 70 pounds. The strap broke in the middle of our walk and she literally dragged it the entire way to the baggage checking point. I have to admit when we boarded the small train I wasn't expecting it to go 130 miles per hour. I goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. The jolt was so incredible the girl in front of me toppled into my suitcases which caused them to send me flailing to the ground. The French thought this was quite amusing. I did not.

(From Escalator) When we finally navigated to the bag checking desk we found out that in the Paris Airport all check ins are electronic. I put my passport in...once...twice...three times....Nothing. I was in tears almost instantaneously. Whether it was the extreme exhaustion or the inability to speak to anyone I don't know, what I do know is that it caused the airport staff to feel extremely bad for me. They ended up just checking my bags in free and sending me past security. Yay for crying(I must have looked super pathetic!)

This is the point where I had my first taste of France. I had Jambon et Rasin Pain and a chilled Citron. This is fancy talk for Ham on Raisin bread with a lemonade(in France everything sounds FANCY!). It. Was. Delicious. Even if it was airport food.

(The Cafe I ate at) The next two flights were kind of a blur to me. I slept through most of the first one. I was so exhausted I boarded the plane and put my seat belt on (mom be proud!)and promptly fell asleep. I cannot even remember waking up. What I do remember is that when I woke up there was almost no one on the plane. Feel free to laugh. Thankfully my next gate was not far from the one I got off. The two hour lay over was just painful. I could not sleep because I could possibly sleep right through my flight. So I sat up watching War Horse on my ipod. It just made me more depressed. The last flight was the same as the first...except the seats were really small and I was stuck in a window seat. No prob. I'll just sleep.

(Air France) Now here is where it gets really funny. When I finally walk down those final stairs to meet my family with open arms. There is no one to be seen....except a very weird old lady that smelled like onions. Don't worry the onion lady did not take me home. I wandered around to the baggage carousel and grab my bags...then I wander back to the front....wait 5 minutes...10 minutes....15 minutes....20 minutes....tears are coming....no Emily Anne calm down....look for information desk....ask where pay phones are....FOR GOD SAKE DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE!!!!!! I marched over to the information desk and asked to pay phones in my broken French. The lady was nice and she told me she could call my family for me. I was about to give her the number when a voice came from behind. "No not necessary. She is mine." My thought at this moment......???????? Behind me is a small man standing in front of thirteen people. Six Rotarian's, three members of my first host family, and three people from my second host family...and Philippe Baumon the District Chairman. I am accosted with hugs and double kisses. Everyone is speaking French to me. I felt faint. It turned out that They thought I was coming from Paris because my host father forgot the itinerary I sent to him. Whoops. I get in the car and my journey is finally over. Good bye planes, annoying flight attendants, and bad in-flight movies. Until next year....until next year.

(Driving away from Biarritz)

The Epic Journey (like the Odyssey or the Aniead)

I am writing now from what only could be called the greatest marathon of all international travel. Here is a quick run down of my current schedule: 0330 Awaken from my dead slumber to drag myself down to the San Diego International 0630 My flight leaves for Phoenix and I fight off an ominous case of the “sleepies” (the sleepies can only be described as the intense desire your brain has for sleep while your body does not allow said sleep) 0745 Flight lands in Phoenix 0800 We are still not at our gate and my flight has started boarding 0810 Panic ensues 0815 I push my way past three couples and run to my next gate…like a crazy maniac. 0825 I am the last person to board my plane…literally 0830 The plane takes off for Charlotte 1030 Times get sketchy here because there is a time change…..I decide to nap through my confusion 1230 I am on a window seat and I desperately have to go to the little girls room…. My neighbors are not happy 1530 Land in Charlotte…realize I have not yet eaten today. 1545 Realize how big Charlotte is…stomach grumbles 1546 Realize my gate is D13 and I am at A4. Panic ensues 1550 Meet two exchange students on my way to my next gate 1640 Depart Charlotte….I think I feel a cold coming on?!?!?! 1645-2045 Continuous movie playing with no sleep So here I am sitting in the largest plane I have ever seen writing my feelings. Feeling #1 I am so grateful my mother did this for me…. I miss her already. Feeling #2 My lips are super dry. I am about to embark on one of the most defining experiences in my life…. And I can think of is I wish I knew more French…. Oh well what is school for anyways? Now I will make a list of the funniest things that have happened so far on my flights 1. I had my back pack on my back and I was walking through the aisle and I turned around to talk to the flight attendant and I promptly whacked some poor old lady in the face with my bag. She wasn’t hurt just slightly stunned by the sudden cloth to face ratio. 2. When I was getting on my international flight the flight attendant actually asked me if I new what a visa was…..I responded with “I should hope so because I have one.” 3. When I was getting on my first flight I was trying to stuff my beautifully packed carry on into the overhead bin when a flight attendant came over and snatched it from my hands and whisked it away to be checked…..goodbye delicious See’s candy I was looking forward to eating. 4. While sitting in one of my seats I felt a mysterious dripping only to find out it was coffee that had spilled in the overhead apartment directly above my head. I smell like cappuccino…maybe not a bad thing? 5. While going through security the zipper on my pants broke….Just imagine me running through the airport one hand on pants (pleading with them not to fall down) one hand on baggage…..its frightening. My journey is not nearly over…..not even close I have two more commuter planes from Paris to Leon and then to Biarritz. Part 2 of the Epic journey tomorrow