Fall Vacation

It is kind of funny that I am writing of my last vacation while I am on vacation now, but here it goes. Well I had about a week and a half at the end of October to the beginning of November. Here they celebrate All Saints Day because France is very Catholic therefor they create a fall vacation. It was a good break from the craziness of school, plus it brought more chances to have some pretty cool adventures. Many thanks for Rotarians and my own host family and many friends. The break started off with a weekend with a Rotarians and her family which was the best. I got to go to a rugby match with her son and his friends, and afterward met up with her and her husband. Rugby is like a religion here in Toulouse. It is like how many Americans follow football. Toulouse has the best team in all of Europe! They have a huge stadium and Toulouse is just overall known all over the world for its rugby obsession. It is a very rough sport!! I always knew it was rough, but it is just plain violent. Football is nothing compared to this. Players are bleeding and messed up yet they are still going after each other. It is however a fast game, and doesn't take as long as football does. It has a similar atmosphere in the stadium though. The crowd was very lively and was a cool experience. I had a nice dinner with their family, and even got to go out in the city at night. Then the next day we volunteered with my host Rotary club at this huge marathon. It is one of the most well known marathons in France, a 50 kilometer race through Toulouse. Rotary is one of the sponsors of the race therefore we had to lend a hand. It was freezing cold and raining which didn't help, but it was still fun. We passed drinks to the runners. this sounds easy, but try handing it to them while they are still running and it turns difficult. It felt good though to give back, and was actually very fun! It took the rest of the day to feel dry and warm again though, brrr! Well after this weekend, was the best day ever...my birthday!!

Well on the day of my birthday I didn't really do anything at all, just a normal day. The next day though we had a special dinner at the house with all three of my host families to help celebrate my 17th birthday. I spent the day baking cookies, apple pie, quiche, and other food to prepare. The dinner was great, and it was so cool to meet the families and get to know them a bit. I did get some wonderful presents as well. I received a Toulouse T-shirt and a special pendant of the Occitaine cross which is the symbol of the region and Toulouse. Now I feel like a Toulousiane. I also received a cute shirt from Zara,  really cool store here in Europe. And of course you have to receive perfume when your in France! I got the nicest smelling perfume, and in the coolest bottle too. I felt very French for sure. It was a great night! The next two days I spent hanging out with friends, usually in the city adventuring or going to cafes. On Friday I left for a weekend in the Pyrenees Mountains with another Rotarian. She has a second house in the mountains which is almost as old as the United States!!! It was built in 1796! It was so interesting, and something I'm not used to seeing. It was nice to go to the country, out of the city for the weekend. I didn't like getting woken up by a herd of cows with their noisy bells and mooing, but it's better than an alarm I guess. The weekend was full of fun excursions.

I went to this awesome cave, where we took a tour. It was filled with gigantic stalactites and stalagmites! I had never been in an actual cave like that before! I was mesmerized with what I saw, and it was a little sad that I couldn't take pictures but I will always have the memories in my head forever! Then later that day she took me to a spa where I got the best massage and  got to take a dip in the pool that overlooked the mountains. After we had a few stops like a a sheep farm for fresh cheese. On Sunday she had many of her relatives come for a large dinner which lasted like 3 or 4 hours or maybe even more. There was so much food and wine, which always makes it better haha! It was crazy, and always hard for me to follow all the conversations but I still had a good time. We were all exhausted by the time everyone left and cleaning up, so we spent the night just reading and roasting chestnuts over the fire. I had only heard of roasting chestnuts in movies and the Christmas song. It is very popular here, and very delicious! Sunday was also Halloween, but here they do not celebrate the holiday. People are starting to get more into it every year, and there were some parties in the city, but otherwise it was a normal day. I did miss the holiday, since it is one of my favorites. Being in an old scary house with a little imagination made Halloween just a little cool here. The next day in the morning we went to an abbey where there was an Andy Warhol exhibit. I of course knew some of his work, but I had never been to a pop art exhibit. It was so cool and I love it! I was so glad and appreciative to have such a nice club that wants to invite me places! Since it was raining, we packed up after that and headed back to the city. The last two days of break included just hanging out, since it was raining and chilly. I did however decide the beginning of a new month and a return after holiday called for a little bit of a change. I dyed my hair, maybe a bit out of boredom haha but more because I have become a new me since I have been here.

This exchange has changed me so much in just this short time. Every month, even every day that goes by I am changing. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity! I would tell any person to go on exchange or just travel! You see everything differently, and it really changes a person. This vacation itself changed me and created memories that will last a lifetime! It was a great way to finish the month and start a new one!

Strikes

Well this fall was a crazy season for all of France. Throughout the country there were demonstrations and strikes going on, especially during the month of October. I had never seen anything like this in my life, and the French definitely should get the crown for the best strikers. The citizens were on strike because the government was changing the retirement age

 from 60 to 62. Wow, two years! To me it didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was more of the idea that the government keeps pushing the limits to them and the fact that many are unhappy with the current president. I understand the reason for going on strike and demonstrating, however many people here especially the teenagers strike just for the fun of it. They get wrapped up in the craziness and power of the people that I don't think many of them had a reason to strike besides missing school and feeling powerful. I had never known the power of a strike until they affected me. In Toulouse it wasn't as bad as other cities like Paris and Lyon, but there was still a lot of trouble because of the strikes. They would decide to block important roads causing major traffic jams. Or for a while they were blocking fuel so many people couldn't even get gas for their car! The worst is when the buses and metros were stopped. Without transportation I'm nothing almost. There would be less buses, if any at all which meant a lot of waiting and then crowdedness. This is only the start. The demonstrations stopped everything in the city and caused chaos. Life was revolving around the striking. Our teachers were sometimes on strike meaning we didn't have class. It wasn't so bad on our end because I don't mind not having history for a week. The universities were taking a beating themselves with classes stopped and school even blocked. The high schools were also being blocked around the city, some lasting for days. I was very surprised that my school wasn't blocked more since it is in the center where all the action was happening. It was though blocked two times, both times the week before break. The students piled up boxes and wood, using large dumpsters to block the gate in the entrance of the school. They even had a banner hung across. The best was the students with megaphone chanting and shouting. All the students had gathered around, most of us trying to figure out what was going on. I was so confused, and really didn't know what to do. Do I go to class? Do I go home? Do I stay here? I thankfully found some others both times, and we decided together what was best. One time we just went for coffee until it would be unblocked, and the other time we found a side door that was opened by the administration and we did go to class. It was so crazy though, and something I will never forget. Students in the United States would never get away with this. These students didn't get into any trouble or anything. It truly is a whole different world. Exchange is about seeing and experiencing new things, and this my friends is truly a unique sight! To see for yourself check out my YouTube page and you will see a bit of the demonstrations which I tried to get some footage of what was going on in Toulouse.

Fancy French Lunch

We went out to lunch to celebrate Laura's birthday, my host sister. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon, and an amazing lunch. In France you always have many courses, even when you are not out to eat. First is an aperitif, basically a drink. Then after is a first course, like an appetizer or salad. I had gotten this vegetable and cheese ravioli that was in the most amazing sauce ever. I can still taste it months later. Then after is the main entree. I had a type of red fish with risotto and a wine/cheese combination sauce. It was so delicious and the presentation of the plates were so neat. I am not used to having the food look so sophisticated and pretty where you are almost too scared to mess it up to eat it! But it is too
good to just look at that is sure! After we decided we could fit some room for some dessert. I got this special apple carmel tarte that is known in the South of France. It came with a carmel and dark sugar, salted butter homemade ice cream which was to die for! The desserts by far had the best appearances and that of course calls for some photos even though I probably did look a little odd. I don't even care though, because I have an excuse, I am an exchange student and American. It is expected of me, haha!!! Well don't start drooling on your computers with these pictures, but here's a little taste of some real French cuisine!

Baking In France

One important aspect of being an exchange student is learning about another culture. But also throughout an exchange one learns more about their own and has a chance to share with others where they come from. What better way to share my American culture than with some yummy food! Here are some of the the creations I have made while here. It is not as easy as it looks. First finding ingredients is not easy and then having to use your eyes as measuring cups and working with in a whole different world presents its challenges!! So far though almost everything has turned out! Though my first patch of cookies were strange because I needed to make an adjustment with the butter since here it is so much richer, but after every time I have had success which definitely makes my host family and the Frenchies very happy!!! Hope this doesn't make you too hungry!

October

Well October was a a crazy month for me! There was so much going on in my life and in just the city alone. School was going better, I had settled into the class and made friends. Everything was slowly becoming easier and easier, plus I was getting to know the city way better. This meant finding all the cool places to go for pastries and coffee, which with some help from my French friends and a little bit of wandering we definitely had success. Also many adventures which took us to all parts of the city, from museums to parks to shops to getting lost looking for an ice cream place. With October came fall, though the leaves didn't start to change till the last week of October. Unlike in Wisconsin when fall usually means chilly days, here the sun was
shinning and many days were warm though we did get those chilly days. The beginning of the month was mainly school and strikes, though the striking didn't get into full sting until about the the week before our fall break. We had a week and a half of of school at the end of October which I was so grateful for especially because it landed on my birthday!! Also this brought some great weekends with so really nice Rotarians!

Canal Midi and Garonne

The Canal Midi is one of the most important things found in Toulouse. It is a canal that was built during the reign of Louis XIV (14th) by a genius who lived right outside of Toulouse. He had created the plans to build the canal to connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, so from Bordeaux through Toulouse all the way to the Mediterranean. This was important because it was a shortcut for trade instead of having to go around Spain and Portugal. The canal is still used today for boats more for recreation and tourism. Also it is very popular to bike from one end of the canal to the other. The canal runs through the city, and is lined with 

paths for bikers and walkers which is the perfect atmosphere. It is lined with the most beautiful trees and is a sight to see. It also connect with the Garonne River which is one of the biggest and most known rivers in France and it is a key aspect in Toulouse. Here you can find the famous bridge Pointe Neuf which is a symbol of Toulouse. I got the chance to take a boat tour of the Garonne and the Canal Midi on a beautiful fall day with my host family and the German student that stayed with us for two weeks. It was so beautiful and something the one has to do when coming to Toulouse. You see the city differently and it was so interesting. It was even cooler because about a week or two before I had gone to the castle of the founder of the canal and had walked the canal. Afterwards we journeyed into the city and went to an English tea room which was amazing. I had the best scone of my life, ever! It was a perfect way to end a day on the two most important water ways in the Southwest of France. 

Cahors (First Rotary Weekend)

The beginning of September I had the best weekend ever, and of course that means it was with Rotary! We had our first weekend of many together. On Saturday the many of us living in Toulouse boarded a bus and headed an hour north to the city of Cahors. Once there we met up with the whole gang which meant a lot of introductions, but right away we all fit together perfectly. Whenever you are with Rotary it always feels like a family, like we have known each other forever. We traded stories and our first experiences with school and host families. It was such a good break from the first crazy week of school I had. Well in Cahors we first had a picnic lunch up above the city, and had the most amazing view of the magnificent city. This means plenty and plenty of pictures. Afterwards we headed into the city where we got a tour on one of these adorable little car trains with Amadéo, an exchange student who was in the UP last year, as our tour guide. The city was so old and like nothing I had seen before. Though we couldn't pay much attention to all the facts with the singing and talking and craziness going on. Really what do they expect when they put 20 exchange students together!! We did explore some of the city on foot, being the part with the amazing bridge which is the symbol of the city. Then we returned to the hotel/hostel where we just hung out and talked until the dinner with the Rotarians and such. We had to do short introductions in French which was adorable since most of us have very strong accents from all over the world. After dinner we went out into the city at night for a bit and just got to know each other better, always laughing and having fun. The next day we boarded the bus and headed out into the country to doing some canoeing. We all teamed up and started our adventure down the river. It was a sunny warm day perfect for being outdoors. The scenery was like a dream. It was so beautiful with cliffs and trees lining the shore. The best was the castles that were built on the cliffs overlooking the water. We stopped for lunch which was traditional food of the region like sausages, couscous, salads, and plenty of tomatoes. We took a swim in the river and laid out in the sun until finally continuing on which is where it gets interesting. We got a chance to explore a cave, but this meant leaving our canoes. We waded in freezing cold water int he pitch black dark, it was like in the adventure movies. I had never been in a cave like that before and I was in awe. When we returned we all got a surprise, many of our canoes escaped. This messed up all our teams and caused some us to be in canoes over the capacity limit. This would worry some, but for us it only brought out hysterical laughter! The worst part is that my dream team lost their navigator so I became the person to steer which was a bad choice. We ended up going in circles and being out of control!!! It was so funny though we were the last ones to get to the final destination haha!

Catch Up Time

Well it has been almost four months already since I have been here, and I still can't believe I am in France!! It is like a giant dream, a whole different world. The time is flying by so fast and these four months feel like four days to me. I have been busy, busy, busy since I have arrived; there's always something to do or be done. I have gotten behind on my blog and I figured with Christmas vacation and a cold rainy day, I better do a little catch up! I'm going to just overview the highlights of each month I have missed, and don't worry there will be plenty of pictures. Also check out my new YouTube page that I created to document some of my adventures and what I see through my eyes. The videos are from when I arrived showing my surroundings so you can get a better picture of what my life is like. There is even some videos of the strikes during October that were very crazy. I will warn you now I am not much of a camerawoman; I need to work on my skills. Enjoy the upcoming posts and check out my link for the Youtube page, otherwise search FrenchieLexie and you should find me! http://www.youtube.com/user/FrenchieLexie