Start Of School Week #2

Well today was the start of school week number two here in Ambialet.  I did not have class until 3:30 pm so I was able to sleep until 10:00am!  For lunch, we had to walk down to Nadine's.  The walk down was not bad, except for it taking 15 minutes to get there.  Lunch was delicious as it normally is here in France.  Unfortunately, the hike back up to the monastery was killer!!! We decided to take the trail instead of the road, because it is quicker.  However, this trail was all rocks and it was very very very steep.  Lets just say that by the time we got to the top of the hill, I was exhausted!!!  I am not going to look forward to making the hike up and down the hill every Monday, but if we did not have the hill, we would not have the beautiful view we see everyday out of our windows! After lunch, we had Art History with Gerry.  My group was supposed to present our expose today, however we ran out of time, and our group has to do two presentations next Monday.  After Art, the Anatomy students had a Skype call with Dr. Langer.  After Anatomy, we had a local artist from Albi come to visit us.  He paints cityscapes and landscapes of the city of Albi, and they are absolutely beautiful!!  He did not speak much English, so Gerry translated for us.  For the rest of the evening, some of the girls watched a movie in the common room.  Maybe I'll go and stop by Brady's room and see what he has for me to eat tonight! Hahaha! Au Revoir!!! =)

Weekend!!

This was our first full three day weekend in France (since we have do not have classes on Friday).  Not too much happens over the weekends here.  On Friday I just worked on Anatomy and my Art Expose which is due Monday.  I had duck for the first time on Friday.  It was really dark meat that tasted like chicken.  It was different, but I do not know if I would want to eat it again.

Saturday was another laid back day.  It snowed here in Ambialet.  It reminded me of being back home in the USA.  However, this snow did not lay.  It was a heavy snow that, when it hit the ground, just became water.  Yesterday I worked on Anatomy all day and took my first quiz (got a 9/10, pretty excited about that).  For dinner, we had an "American" dinner.  Bernard made us mashed potato balls, chicken and ribs.  It was absolutely delicious!!  Katie taught me how to French braid my hair last night.  I love how she braids her hair all the time, so she showed me how.  Mine did not turn out too bad for the first time.  Later on around 1:00 am Brady gave me some soda and chocolate for a snack.  That was a bad combination that late at night when I should be trying to sleep.  Needless to say, I stay up most of the night (until about 4:30 am) texting my friend because I could not sleep.

This morning, Jen, Katie, Morgan, and I went to mass at 11:15am.  I again worked on Anatomy (I have to keep myself paced with this class since it is online and since I have a test in approximately two weeks).  I can tell that my weekends will be dedicated to Anatomy (it ruined my life last semester, and it continues to do the same this semester even though I'm in France).  Ohh the joys of being a Physician Assistant major!  For dinner we had pizza!!!!  Alicia, Jen, Katie, Morgan, and I went with John to go pick up the pizza for dinner.  This definitely was not your typical USA pizza place.  While we were there, the guy showed his us barn which had baby pigs in it.  He gave Alicia one of the pigs and the mother freaked out and the baby started crying.  The pizza was definitely different from USA pizza.  There was a lot more sauce and cheese was limited.  In addition, there was ham (since almost everything here in France has ham) and mushrooms.  To end my day, I skyped one of my best friends and last semester's roommate, Taylor.  Thankfully, we are going to room together next semester!!  I am so excited!!!  Tomorrow starts another week of classes, which means a week closer of coming home.  Even though I LOVE France so far, I still miss the USA.  Well, my Anatomy book and I have another late night date tonight.  Talk to you all soon!

First Trip To Albi

I had such an amazing and exciting day today.  We all left for our first trip to Albi this morning at 8:00 am.  We had our French class at the University of Albi.  Our class was three hours long, but it was the fastest class ever.  I'll show you all what we learned today.  "Bonjour!!  Je'mappelle Francie.  J'ai dix-neuf ans.  Je suis etudiante Americanne.  J'habite a Ambialet en France mais j'habite a Johnstown en aux Etats-Unis.  Au Revoir!"  For all of you that do not speak French, I said " Hello!  My name is Francie.  I am nineteen years old.  I am an American student.  I live in Ambialet in France but I live in Johnstown in the United States.Good Bye!"  Marie, the French professor, taught the entire class in French.  I actually understood mostly everything.  It is easier to understand the language in a classroom setting than when you are in the cities and towns.  Marie makes French class interactive.  We have conversations with one another and we play games in order to make learning more fun.  After French class, we had lunch at the university cafeteria.  I now have an appreciation for students who come to study in the USA from other countries.  You feel out of place, especially since you are speaking English and everyone around you is speaking French.  During lunch, a student named Julien came up to Alicia and told her that he would be studying at SFU next fall semester.  He spoke English so we were able to tell him about life in the USA and life as a student at SFU.

After lunch, we were invited to Gerry's house for dessert.  His wife make us Gateau.  It was a marzipan flavored cake.  This is only served during the season of Epiphany.  Within the cake, there are three figures baked into the cake (to represent the three wise men).  If you receive the piece with the figurine, you are "crowned".  To my surprise, I had a figure in my piece, so I got a paper crown!!  Katie also had a figurine and she also got a crown.  John got the third crown.  It was very nice of Gerry and his wife to invite us to his home.  Also, their little boy Daniel is so cute!!  He only speaks Russian (since his mother is Russian) and French (since his dad knows French and they are living in France).

Gerry and John then took us on a tour of the city of Albi.  We went to the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia.  I was especially excited to see this church because I took the name Cecilia as my confirmation name (so my "full" name is Frances Louise Cecilia Morello).  This was the most beautiful and spectacular church I have ever seen in my life.  I lit two candles by the statue of Saint Cecilia.  I lit one for my family back in USA and I lit one for success in this semester abroad.  After seeing the church, we were allowed to explore and shop around Albi.  At 5:00 pm we were invited to city hall and the mayor of the city officially welcomed us.  After his welcome, he also had Gateau and other pastries for us to eat.  After the reception, the bus brought us back to Ambialet to have dinner.

I want to say that being with Jen, Alicia, and Katie, there is never a boring moment.  They are always joking around (especially when it comes to me accidentally breaking Katie's computer.).  Speaking of the computer incident, Katie now made a verb.  She used it in a sentence today.  She bought a coffee travel mug for 25 Euro and she said "I'm going to Francie this coffee mug and see if it breaks."  I've admitted to myself that I'm never ever going to live that down  However, I am so happy that these three girls are on this trip.

I must admit, I am having the "time of my life" on this trip so far.  I've officially been here a full week, and I have experienced more in this week than I ever would have imagined.  I cannot even imagine what is to come within the next three months here.  Anyone who is reading this blog, especially any SFU student, I strongly encourage you to study abroad.  This is a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.  Well, that's all for today.  Au Revoir!!!

Toulouse

Today we took our first religious pilgrimage to Toulouse, a city about an hour and a half away from Ambialet.  Big cities in France are so different than big cities in the USA.  We left Ambialet around 9:00 am this morning and we arrived in Toulouse around 10:30 am.  The first place we visited was St. Sernin's Basilica (first church picture).  This basilica was absolutely massive!!  There are so many details in the sculpture and the artwork outside and inside of the basilica that one would not normally notice on one's own.  Thank goodness that we had Eric with us to explain everything.  After seeing the basilica, we went to Saint Raymond's Museum.  This museum held all of the artifacts from when Toulouse was under the rule of the Roman Empire.  We then we to a Dominican Church (second church picture) that held the remains of Saint Thomas Aquinas.  This church was right by one of the best high school in France (since they receive 100% pass rates on the standardized test).  Walking around, especially near the school, everyone would stare.  It was probably obvious that we were speaking English and looked American.  After seeing this church, everyone was starving, so we were given an hour to find somewhere to eat.  Alicia, Jen, Katie, Morgan, Maura, and I came across a cafe.  We ordered (or should I say tried to order, since the waiter did not speak a lot of English) the "plat du jour" which included an entree and a dessert.  For an entree, I got beef with this sauce on it and a broccili, ham, and cheese casserole.  For dessert, I had my first chocolate crepe!!!  This was an absolutely delicious lunch!!!!  After lunch we visited the house of Saint Dominic.  We then headed back home to Ambialet for dinner and a night of getting work done.  Tomorrow we have French class in Albi and we are told that we are meeting the mayor of Albi at town hall, so that should be an exciting experience.

I must say, Toulouse was a beautiful city, but the language barrier was definitely a problem (even when I sign onto Google on my computer, it puts everything in French).  Today, I tried to buy some postcards and I gave the cashier my credit card.  For some reason he tried to explain to me IN FRENCH that my credit card would not work.  So when he saw that I had some Euros in my wallet, he said "Oui" and I handed him a 5 euro instead.  Being in a foreign country can be very frustrating when you do not speak the language.  Nothing has an English translation, so you are totally lost when you are walking around.  Hopefully, as I am here longer, I will become more familiar to the language and it will not be as uncomfortable walking around cities.

To end this lovely day, our shower head is broken, so John came into our room to check it.  On the way out of the room he said that Eric was missing a desk and a chair from him room.  Now, so that you all understand, Katie took a desk and a chair out of the empty room next to us.  So John asks if we knew anything about the missing desk and chair.  Katie replies "No" and I just awkwardly look at Katie with a nervous look on my face and Jen looks nervously at Alicia (since they took stuff too).  John then asks me if I knew, and I said "Ohhh we did not know anyone was in that room."  Katie, Alicia and John then start laughing.  Apparently, this was a little prank planned by Katie and Alicia when they were talking to John this evening.  Afterwards, John said that it was okay that we had the extra stuff in our room.  Ohh how I love my friends.  Thanks guys!! =) Haha!!! =)

Je ne compreds pas le Francias

Today bright and early at 9:00 am we had our first French class with Marie.  She introduced the class to us in English, but after that, she spoke entirely in French.  I only took one French class in high school, so I could understand some words to try and comprehend what she was trying to say to us.  Today's class was a lot of fun.  In order to learn the vocabulary she presented us with today, we played "Simon says" or as we say it in French "Jacques en dit...".  I think I'm really going to enjoy going to French class for six hours every week.

For lunch we had a French specialty called Croque Monsieur.  It was a ham and cheese sandwich with melted cheese on top.  It was delicious! For the afternoon Katie, Jen, Alicia, and I worked on our Anatomy Lab on the endocrine system.  We just looked at slides on the computer and completed part of the lab report.  At 4:30 pm we had our first Religious Studies class with Eric.  Tomorrow, he will be taking us to Toulouse for the day and show us some of the major religious sites.  For dinner we had spaghetti with meat sauce.  It was a little different from USA spaghetti.  The sauce was not as heavy and the noodles were thicker and softer.  To end the day, the anatomy students have a Skype call with Dr. Langer at 9:30 pm.  Well, I better start working on my Art Expose homework, I have a lot to write about on the Sistine Chapel.

First Day Of Class

PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!  Yes, I did stay up until 4:00 am to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the New York Jets by a 24-19 score in the AFC Championship game last night.  This will be unique watching the Steelers vs. the Green Bay Packers in the superbowl in two weeks from France.

Today was our first day of class here in Ambialet.  Our first class and only one of the day today was Art History with Gerry.  This class lasted from 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm.  He basically just introduced us to his class and already gave us an expose to do for next Monday.  My expose will be on Michelangelo.  He did make the assignment a tad challenging for us.  Not only do we have to present our exposes orally, we have to introduce our artist in FRENCH!!!  I truly think I am going to be able to speak French well after these months here.  After Art History, the Anatomy and Physiology students had a Skype conference with Dr. Langer back in Loretto.  From what she said, Anatomy will once again rule and ruin my life as it did last semester.  For the rest of the afternoon, Katie and Alicia went to go to the grocery store (and bought us dessert for tonight) and Jen and I sat in the common room and tried to get some school work completed.  For the rest of the evening I will probably keep reading Anatomy and talking to friends.  Tomorrow class starts at 9 am and we are not finished until 6:30 pm.  I have a busy day ahead.

Steelers Sunday....In France

Tonight the AFC Championship will take place against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets at approximately 6:30 pm EST (12:30 France time).  I plan on staying up to watch the game, no matter how late it is here.  I cannot miss such an important football game.  In honor of the game, I wore my Troy Polamalu jersey today.  HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!!!

To start off my day, I attended 11:15 am mass at the chapel that is connected to the monastery.  We were told that the chapel was approximately built in the year 1060 A.D.  When we arrived at church, we were instantly greeted by the priest with a "Bonjour!".  We then told him our names in French.  The mass was done entirely in French.  However, John (our RA and Program Assistant) read the gospel to us in English after the priest was finished saying it in French.  We also recited the "Our Father" in English after it was said in French.  After mass, the priest gave each of us a prayer card with the Lady of Notre Dame on it.  We then had lunch, which consisted of salad, cheese ravioli (made with three different cheeses) and bread.  After lunch, a group of ten of us walked down to the village of Ambialet.  We explored the village and took many pictures.  In addition, I ordered my first glass of wine at Nadine's (I had to order it in French!).  On a side note, even being here for a couple days, I'm starting to "catch onto" some simple French phrases and words.  Anyways, the trip back up to the monastery was not fun.  I can finally see why they call the hill "Heartbreak Hill".  For dinner, we had salad, veal, broccili, cauliflower, and cheese casserole, and bread.  The rest of my night will consist of reading and outlining Anatomy (since classes start as of 1:15 pm tomorrow) and watching the Steelers' game!!

Who Knew A Supermarket Trip Would Be An Adventure?

Well, today did not start out great.  Last night, I fell asleep with my computer (and remember I'm on the top bunk).  Around 6:00 am we heard a BANG hit the floor.  It was my computer.  I rushed out of bed, only to find that my computer was still okay.  I went back to sleep and woke up around 8:30 am.  My roommate, Katie told me that her computer must have broken the fall of mine, because her screen was totally shattered.  She will be receiving a new computer from SFU hopefully soon and in the meantime, she is allowed to use mine whenever she needs to.

My day did get a lot better after this morning.  After the computer incident, we had breakfast which consisted of yogurt and french bread with nutella.  We then had an academic orientation meeting.  The rest of the day was free to do whatever we wanted.  Today's lunch consisted of salad, rice with pepperoni, and bread.  After lunch we made a trip to the supermarket  (called Geant), and let me tell all of you reading this, I have never been so confused in a supermarket before.  First off, since we are in France, so everything was in French and everyone was speaking French!  It was all very confusing, and most of the people were staring at us (they probably knew we didn't belong there).  While at the supermarket, we all bought some sort of French pastry to try tonight for a snack.  I bought Eclairs, Katie bought chocolate bars, Jen bought bread that had chocolate inside, and Alicia bought this raspberry cake.  I also bought a scarf while I was there.  While in line for checkout, there was a man in front of Katie.  He tried talking to her in French and motioning to his beer, then the scanner, and then his pocket.  All Katie could do while smile and nod while Jen, Alicia, and I were trying to hide our laughter.

Once home from the supermarket, the four of us girls took Jay-Z, our dog, for a walk and just explored the monastery and took a lot of pictures.  Before dinner, Henry, one of the program assistants, gave us a quick French lesson.  For dinner we had salad, french fries, beef tips, and bread.  For the rest of the evening, Katie, Jen, Alicia, and I ate the pastries we bought.  They were absolutely delicious, especially the Tranche Framboisier (translated to "slice of raspberry").  As for tomorrow, we are planning to go to church at 11:15 am and then bike down into the actual village of Ambialet!

I'M IN FRANCE?!?!?!?

Bonjour!!!!  I am officially in France!!   I cannot believe that I am actually here!!  It is absolutely beautiful!

Let me take you through our travels to France:

At 11:00 am EST we left SFU for Washington Dulles airport.  We arrived there around 2:00 pm EST and our plane left at 5:45 pm EST.  We received dinner on the plane, and let me tell you all a piece of advice.  DO NOT drink wine on a plane, you will get a headache afterwards.  That plane ride lasted 7 hours.  We were told that the best advice was trying to sleep on this flight, however, when it is only early evening to your body, it is really hard to sleep, so I did not sleep at all.  Once we were across the Atlantic Ocean, we could see the lights of Ireland when we flew over and when we landed in London, we were able to see the city lit up from the sky.  We arrived in London, England 5:40 am (England Time).  We then had a 1 1/2 hour layover in London until we departed for Toulouse, France at 7:50 am.  The 1 1/2 hour flight landed us in Toulouse around 11:00 am (France time).  By this time, the entire group was exhausted, but we were told that we were not allowed to go to sleep until after dinner.  After landing in Toulouse, we had to go through France passport control and collect our luggage (I got my first stamp in my passport!!!).  We were then put on a bus and we had a 1 hour 15 minute trip to our new home in Ambialet.

Once, at Ambialet, we were immediately greeted by the dog, Jay-Z.  We took our luggage up to our rooms and got ready for lunch (which is usually served at 1:00 pm).  For lunch, the monastery chef, Bernard, prepared us pasta with ham, salad, and of course no French meal is complete without French bread.  After lunch, we were all told that we would be put into groups of four and each group would have to do the dishes for that day.  After  our dish washing orientation, we had time to unpack, explore the monastery and its grounds and we had an tour of our new home.  After our tour, I had to get a shower, because I was wearing the same clothes for almost 24 hours.  We were then called to dinner (which is usually served between 7:30-8:00) by the "dinner bell" and it was delicious.  We had salad, chicken, and potato/vegetable medley, and bread.  Something I learned at dinner tonight, french bread with nutella on it is soooo good!!!!  After dinner, we were told that we are finally allowed to go and relax for the night.  We have to be gathered together by 10 am tomorrow morning ( or 4 am EST) for our academic orientation to get us ready for class on Monday.

Even though it is only early evening here, I have almost been up for 24 hours, and I am totally exhausted!!!

Bonsoir!!! (Good Night)

One Week Remaining

Hello All!!

This will be my last post from the USA.  We leave for France exactly one week from today.  I just returned from visiting St. Francis University and seeing some close friends.  I truly did not think seeing these few people for the last time until May 1st would be so difficult for me.  Apparently, I was totally wrong about that statement (lots of crying).  However, one of my best friends from high school told me earlier in the week, "do not say goodbye, instead say see you later".  I really liked thinking of it that way.  The word "goodbye" seems more of a terminal phrase than "see you later".

My major task this weekend and next week will be trying to get everything into suitcases, which have to be no more than 50 pounds (could be a problem).  Samantha claims that she is more than happy to help me pack, because she does not want me taking anything that she wants.

My next post will be from France.  Hopefully I'll be able to post something Friday night, and I'll be able to tell you all about our trip to Ambialet!!!  As for now, I will miss everyone so much and I will "see you later!!!!".

Happy New Year

Bonjour Et Bonne Annee A Tous!!!  (Hello and Happy New Year Everyone!!!)

Thank you so much for coming to my blog.  While I'm studying abroad in Ambialet, France this spring semester, I hope to post updates on here as often as possible.

I have approximately 18 days until I depart for my 3 1/2 month journey to France.  I'm very excited for this "trip of a lifetime".  However, at the same time, I'm very nervous about being so far away from home, my family, and my close friends .

Lately, I have been busy starting to pack for France.  I thought that if I started early, I would be less likely to forget something important.  In addition, my dad has been figuring out my way of communication to the USA, especially since he knows that I LOVE to text .  Therefore, i got an app for my iPhone and my new iPad that I can still text (through the internet of course since international texting is very very expensive).  I also got a special cell phone through PicCell Wireless so that I will be able to use.  As for my last days in the USA, I want to try and cherish them all because as of January 20th my life will be changing slightly.

On Thursday January 20, the group of 22 students will meet at SFU and then we will get on a bus at 11am headed for Washington, DC.  We then take off on British Airways that evening around 5:45pm and have a 7 hour plane ride to London, England. We land in London Heathrow Friday January 21 around 6:00am (With the time change).  We then depart from London at 8:00am and then take an approximately 2 hour plane ride to Toulouse, France.  We should arrive in Toulouse around 10:30am and from there we will have about an hour and a half bus ride to our new home in Ambialet, France.  This is going to be a very busy day.  I heard from a student that just came back from France, that once we hit London, we are not allowed to sleep until 8:30pm or later (France time) in order to reduce jet lag.  

To end my first post on my blog, I would like to say a couple words to some special people who I'm truly going to miss a lot :

Mom and Dad - I will miss both of you sooo much.  I will be counting the days until spring break when I'll be able to see you again.  I know that I'll be thousands of miles away, but I'll be calling every single day.  Time goes fast and April 30th will be here before you know it.  Je T'aime!!!!  (I Love You!!!)

Samantha - Dearest Sister!!  You don't even know how much I'll miss you. However, you know that every time you're on Facebook, I'll be chatting you!!!!  Also, since I know that you'll be using my closet and jewelry boxes anyways, I'll give you permission to do so....just keep my closet organized like I have it now!!!!  I'll know if something is out of place when I get home!!!!

Ethan - I'll miss having lunch and studying in the library with you.  However, I'll still be able to text you with that new number I gave you and we will have to webcam frequently!  Also, remember to keep me updated with any new music you come across when I'm away!!  As of January 20th, only 100 days until I'm home! =)

Malia - I'll miss our endless hours of in being Gubbio.  Hopefully you got that webcam and we can see each other as much as possible.  You definitely have to keep me updated with all the latest gossip going on back home in the USA.

Taylor - You were an awesome roommate last semester and I'm so sad that I'm leaving you!!  Have a wonderful semester, I know that you will do just fine!!!  I'll be talking to you a lot on Skype, especially for my Anatomy quizzes (that was such a wonderful idea)!!