Sunday, February 8

When in Rennes!

So we have officially started classes. I am taking required classes by the program, along with a Civilization class, France’s Approach to International Relations, and a class at the university, Histoire de la Femme (history of women from the 16th to 18th century). The classes aren’t too difficult, the only hard part is figuring out what the professor is saying, as all the classes are in French. My class at the university is interesting but we have only had it a couple times because of the strike. The French LOVE to strike, and two weeks ago there was a national strike which essentially froze the country for an entire day. The metro here is automatic, so we were able to get around, but the buses weren’t running and there were marches and protests all over France. The Civilization class will be interesting because Bretagne is an extremely proud region of France. They really pride themselves on being Breton first and French second. They even have their own language, Breton, which is extremely hard to understand and sounds nothing like French, but more like Gaelic.


I have met some other kids from different programs in Rennes, which is really fun. We are all in the same program because it is the section of the university where everyone who is learning French takes classes. So I have both college kids and adults from all over the world in my classes, Iran, England, Brazil, China, Sweden, etc. It is very cool because our common language is French, so we are forced to speak to each other in a foreign language.

Last weekend my friend Lindsay’s host family took us up about an hour north to a town called Cancale. They are famous for their oysters, and even though it isn’t the season, we were still able to be by the ocean and see the oyster traps, which was amazing. Her family is really sweet, and they have two young girls, 7 and 9, who are adorable and very into Harry Potter. (Below are pictures).



My host family has left for their vacation for two weeks, so this week I have the house to myself which has been wonderful. People don’t eat eggs here, so the first thing I

did this morning was make a ham and cheese omelet and toast, which has never tasted so good. I have also been going to a film festival here in Rennes. There is a film festival here every year called Traveling, and there is a different focus each year. This year it is Jerusalem, so half the movies focus on Israel and the other half on Palestine. So far I have seen Checkpoint, a documentary about the Gaza strip boarder control, and Valse avec Bashir (Waltz with Bashir), which is an animated film about the Lebanon war. If anyone gets a chance to see the second one I highly recommend it. It was very intense but incredible.


Weekends, meaning Thursday nights, have been really fun here. Two weeks ago we went out to the best crepes I’ve ever had in town, and then met up with some French boys we had met at a bar called Bonne Nouvelle. They have an English-speaking party there every Thursday night. After that we went dancing at a discothèque for one of the boys’ birthdays, which was a blast. This past Thursday night, a bunch of us bought appetizers and wine after class and went to our friend Helen’s for the night. We had guacamole and chips, bread and cheese, and ham/smoked salmon/and apples – it was an incredible feast. The wine we had was a red Beaujolais which is only 2-3 euros here, but much more expensive in the states.


I was also lucky to have a visitor this weekend! Because a day trip to Mont Saint Michel was postponed one of my best friends from Camp Huckins, Julia, who is studying in Paris came down for the night. We had a gre

at time going out to dinner and drinks on Friday night, then I showed her around on Saturday, and we went to the market and walked all around Rennes. She only stayed until that night but I will see her again in two weeks when I am in Paris after my vacation to Spain.


I also found out my family is coming in March! I am very excited to see them and show them around Rennes, and impress them with my French. I will hopefully write again before Spain! Please continue to send me updates and emails!


Bisous,

Emma

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