10/17 MacDoe

Very exciting day planned: trip to large Carrefour and lunch at McDonalds. About 5 other assistants and me all agreed that we needed a little MacDoe in our lives, so we planned an outing to the only McDonalds in Laval. It’s kinda far from the center of town and even farther from where we live so this was an organized excursion. We hopped on our line B which is right outside of the Foyer and proceeded into town. To my great delight the bus was rerouted due to the grève. All the bridges, the main town square, and many of the side streets were completely blocked off and filled with demonstrators. We all were amazed and it was everything I hoped and dreamed for. Lol. But it was the type of greve one imagines with signs all over the place, masses of angry people, noise makers, sirens, people shouting chants, and pure ciaos. We were amazed. None of us have every witnessed quite an experience like that one, so naturally we all pulled out our cameras and proceeded to take pictures and videos of the masses rioting like complete tourists that we are. After about fifteen minutes we finally started making our way to McDonalds. It was amazing. A little piece of America. The menu was the same, it still had all the classics, but the dessert menu was beefed up. It had a ton of stuff like small pastries, lava cakes, doughnuts, ice cream, chocolate mousse, and chocolate muffins. The suaces are a bit different but still good. I have to say you always hear about the French commenting on Americans eating habits and our selections of restaurants like McDonalds, but the McDonalds in Laval was packed. We had to wait to find a table and then on top of that we couldn’t even all sit together. I was really confused. After lunch we headed over to the large Carrefour. The large Carrefour is probably the biggest grocery store with other departments as well. It’s just like Wal-Mart. But all in all it was a great day: Grève, MacDoe, and Carrefour!

10/15 Laundry DAY

Ok.... i have no clue where to begin. I guess i'll start with the fact that I have been putting off cleaning my clothes for about a week and the end result was a very large smelly heap of clothing. The foyer has one washer and one dryer in a very, very small, small room on the bottom floor for 140 people. This small room has 2 keys (I know what you’re thinking, “why are there 2 keys and only one washer and one dryer?”…I have no clue. If they thought that would help speed up the process of using the washer and dryer, they were wrong cause it doesn’t. It only makes it worse). So there are 2 keys to the laundry closest…whoops I mean room and residents are only allowed to wash their clothes after 2pm Monday through Saturday. Nothing is open on Sunday, NOTHING.  The room is closed between the hours of 8am and 2pm every day. Now in order to get the key the office must be open but the office usually closes around 6pm. Sometimes the staff is in the building during off hours but you must track them down and they usually are only around until 9pm at the very latest. So our window of opportunity to wash clothes is really short. Only about 42 hours a week, but no I’m really not complaining about that small window of opportunity, I’m really upset about the ways one must get the key. There is no organization with the handing out of the keys. However after stalking people for days or harassing the front office endlessly one is able to obtain the key. It took me hours, I probably started around 11am looking for them. I know what you are thinking, “why would they hand out keys if the laundry room doesn’t open until 2pm?” wow that’s a great question…. I have no clue. But anyways I first went to the office at 11am to request the key at 2pm but the secretary informed me that both of the keys were out of the office and that I had to track them down if I wanted them. Needless to say I finally found the keys and was able to do my laundry. I finally got done with my clothes at 10pm. (I only did 2 loads of laundry) Yes it was a long day and I’m not exaggerating. I managed only to get my laundry done for the whole day. Lol… glad it’s done though cause I was really running out of clothes.  

10/12 Greve

WOW I was so excited for my first grève only to be incredibly disappointed. I walked into the center of town hoping to see tons of people holding banners and yelling and posters all over the town square only to find NOTHING! It was like any other Tuesday at lunch. Very disappointing, I expected more out of you frenchies!

10/11 MON ANNIVERSAIRE et l'anniversaire de mon frère aussi

So it's my birthday and it’s was also my first day observing classes at my school. The teachers are all really nice. I spent the morning with Myriam, the principal of the school. Myriam teaches CM1, the children are around 10 years old, so I'm guessing that would be equivalent to 4th or 5th grade. During the lessons I actually learned a lot of French and some more vocab. Many of the assistants who are teaching at Lycees (high schools) are actually taking French grammar classes with their students to help them work on their French. I'm considering the same thing but only in my elementary school. hahaha. I met up with Laura to grab a bite to eat for lunch. Laura's teaches at a primary school that is only a few blocks away from mine and we usually commute together. So I decided to have a costume party for my birthday and during my lunch break I planned to get some decorations and help Laura find a costume, so we just assumed we would eat quickly and then shop for a costume. For the majority of the school here in France there is a 2 hour lunch break for the students and faculty. The children and the teachers have the option to either go home to have lunch or eat lunch on the school grounds. Considering the long lunch break we thought we would have plenty of time to find a costume and decorations.  We did forget however everyone else has a 2 hour lunch break in France. Not one shop was open, even some of the restaurants were closed too, which makes no sense to me but c'est la vie. After searching for an open store we gave up and found a café. That afternoon I went to two other classes, one class with 7 year olds and the other one was another CM1. I'm not sure how many classes are at Marcel Pagnol but I believe there are about 6. Still haven't seen the whole school, but the school grounds are quite large. After observing for the day Laura and I went to the Carrefour and we picked up some treats for the party.

Side note about Laure: Not only is there a language barrier with the French sometimes but there is also a language barrier when speaking with someone from the UK. Case in point, when I first told Laura that I was having a costume party for my birthday. She then said, oh a fancy dress party, in her cute english accent. i wasn't sure if she was confused, maybe she thought she had to actually find a cocktail dress because she thought the party might be formal. So i repeated myself and said costume party but to make a long story short, English/ Scottish folk call costume parties "fancy dress parties". There are many other differences, it’s almost like it’s another language. Fries are chips. Chips are crisps. A hot guy is usually called dishy. Trashy girl is a tart.

But after the Carrefour i cleaned my room and got my costume together. Everyone here is very poor and we all had to think of costumes on a tight budget. I bought yellow paper mache at the Carrefour and tape them to a black dress… So I was a bumble bee. (bourdon en Français) I invited all the assistants and some of my new French friends who live at the Foyer. Everyone dressed up in their costumes and looked great. There was a lumberjack, a geek, hula girl, 2 cats, Amy Winehouse, batman, and a few others. The party was hopping. I finally had to kick the last few stragglers out at 2am. Everyone was supper creative with their costumes. My favorite was between Anna (the geek) and Robin (lumberjack). But all in all my 24^th birthday was great in France.

Happy Birthday Danny!

10/10 Good Luck Mom!

Good luck Mom on your race!

Happy Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad! 29 years way to go!

Happy Birthday Debbie! Hope you have a good b-day!

Miss you all!

10/9 Rennes

Today 7 of my friends and I went to Rennes. It’s the closest city to us here in Laval, about a 40 minute train ride by TGV. Luckily since it's so close it only costs about 13 euros with my Carte 12-25. Le Carte 12-25 is a special pass for young adults and children from 12-25 (obviously) that gives discounts on train tickets. I usually get about half price on all my tickets. It's really helpful here in Europe especially with traveling. But our morning got off to bumpy start before we even left. We got to the train station with minutes to spare before our train departed, around 9:40, our train was at 9:45 but none of us had purchased our tickets yet so when we got to the counter the women said that we didn't have enough time to buy 8 tickets to Rennes and we had to wait for the next train at 12:24. This in the long run turned out better but at the time we all were a little disappointed, especially since we all woke up at 8 am on a Saturday morning. Since we had 2 hours to spare I headed to our local farmers markets that is just a block past the train station. It's your typical market we have in the US, but it also has an amazing bakery and cheese stand that will blow any cheese or bakery stand out of the water in the US. But I try to get all my vegetables there for the week. They are fairly inexpensive too. There is this one stand in particular that I have been frequenting since I have arrived, but the older man is so funny. He always has this really big smile and saying "ceux-ci" and pointing to some other vegetable. He gives me a good laugh every time.

By the time I took all my goodies home and cleaned my room it was time for our train. Luckily we made the train with no problems. Rennes is beautiful; it too has a river running through the middle of the city. The other girls and I are convinced that it is mandatory for French cities to have a beautiful rivers running through the direct middle of it. But once we got there we wasted no time and got right down to business: shopping. I purchased 2 sweater dresses, the black one is from H&M and the dark gray one is from Etam. Both are perfect with leggings for the cold weather here in France. The other girls bought some sweaters and shoes as well. Shopping in Rennes on a Saturday afternoon is an experience until most shopping experienced I’ve had. But it was packed in every store we went into. Absolutely bananas! People and clothes were being thrown about all over the place. I was surprised I was able to find anything. Most of the stores were complete ciaos but fortunately while I was waiting outside for some of the girls while they shopped I found this little restaurant called "Tante Yvonne". No worries Grandmere I took a picture of it for you. It was pretty funny cause while I was waiting outside with 2 other girls we happen to notice there a subway. We thought that was crazy, a Subway in France, but the Subway was right next to Tante Yvonne's restaurant. I saw this and knew I had to take a picture. My friends thought I was taking a picture of Subway but I reassured them I wasn't. I'll be sure to send it to you Grandmere. After about 4 hours of shopping and walking all over the city and department stores we all were worn out but our train didn't leave until 8pm. We still had 4 more hours. We then put out a search for a cafe. Thankfully Rennes is filled with them, we came across this huge cobblestone square that had a carousel (these too are a staple of French cities, I believe carousels and rivers are required here) in the middle and market going on. The market mostly had really old books, paintings, and nic nacs. But surrounding the squared on three sides were rows of cafes and restaurants that had patio seating outside in front of their restaurants. It was the typical scene you would image in France. The square was packed and most of the tables were filled with French people smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. We all had a drink and shared some crepes (this place was not as good as the crepe restaurant in Laval). We spent the rest of the day wondering around the town of Rennes, but we all agreed that our next trip to Rennes for shopping would be during the week, early in the morning, and for not nearly as long as an 8 hour day. It was a good thing that we took the 12:25 train instead of the 9:45 one. We were all exhausted by the time we got on the train back to Laval. I have to admit that the shopping day was great, we didn't get lost thanks to Alicia and her blackberry, and no blood was shed. I know sometimes it can get a little crazy with 8 girls shopping together for an extended period of time. hahaha. But we all had a great time and bought some really cute French clothes. 

From the left: Laura, Liz, and Charlotte



10/8 Laval

Nothing exciting today. This morning I applied for health insurance and my social security card. Mom you no longer have to worry I'm 100% covered!


I did a walking tour of Laval that was 3 hours long. I got about 5 blisters out of it too along with some great pictures. Also I got lost a few times. Laval has few really old churches and it has this really pretty garden called la Jardin Public de la Perrine. The garden is huge, it has a Science Museum on the grounds as well as a painting school, it has a rose garden and little animal farm that houses goats, sheep, and birds. The actual garden is probably about 10 to 15 acres and it sits on the few hills that Laval does have. It’s very beautiful. Danny France you would really appreciate the garden.

10/7 Happy Birthday Jerry!

Happy Birthday Jerry! Hope it was a good one!

This morning was beautiful once again. There wasn't a rain cloud in sight. I had more meeting this morning about teaching. The meetings are a little boring and from time to time I tend to get a little lost considering they are all in French. But our director Stephane is so nice and helpful. He is originally French but studied in England when he was younger, so when he actual does speak English which is rarely he speaks perfectly. It so funny cause he doesn't have a French accent when he speaks but an English. He’s a very great person and a helpful contact. In our meeting in the morning he told us he wanted us to find our schools and speak with our Director/rice. The Director/rice is the equivalent of the principals at elementary schools. So I went home had some lunch then took the bus to my school. It’s about a 25 min bus ride followed by a 5 min walk. My school Marcel Pagnol is located on the outskirts of Laval. It very nice area, the homes are newer and it's in a more suburban area. Most of the homes are a little bit bigger than the ones I have found in the busier part of town. They are also further apart from each other and have yards. Most of them have jungle gym sets in them, so I’m thinking they are mostly families with young children. But my school is larger than most, not sure the exact number of students but I'll find out next week for you. Directly next to my school are a post office, my bank Crédit Mutuel, and a tobac. A tobac is like a little 7-eleven. They usually have drinks, magazines, phone cards, and snacks. They also sell hot lunches in there and they are fairly inexpensive. It'll be perfect for me on my lunch breaks. I met the directrice of Marcel Pagnol, Myriam. She is so nice, easy to understand, and beautiful. She is so tall and young reminds me of Holly Newnon. To be honest I was expecting an old scary looking man. I also met some of the other teachers, they all seemed really nice. There were about 4 young teachers there around my age, so it'll be nice to work with them and possible have them show me around. Although they speak extremely fast. They were much harder to understand than Myriam. I'll be sure to take pictures of my school next week. I have to observe my classes twice next week for 2 full days. I’ll be observing them on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday the people of Laval and the people of France will be on strike. So if this strike does happen I will be observing on Thursday. It has been very interesting with all the commotion of le grève (strike in French).  I see that word everywhere I turn, on the news, flyers around town, in the newspaper, and on the radio. Le grève is about raising the retirement age here is France. It’s so interesting to see all the efforts that are being put into the strike. In the building that I have my meetings in there was a man outside handing out flyers about le grève and information on protesting. Also there is a sheet with the word grève on it in, on this really small island that is in the middle of Le Mayenne River that passes through the center of town. It’s so cool how the nation will band together and try and make a change. They actually do it instead of just sitting around talking about it. I'll be sure to take some pictures and tell you how the strike is on Tuesday the 12th.

Later that night we hit up our favorite bar, O'Reagans. I have to be honest I getting a little tired of that bar and I'm ready to start exploring other ones here in this lovely city of Laval.

Miss you all!

10/6 it didn't rain today!!!

Well I guess my rain dance worked last night! hahaha just kidding but it did not rain today and I couldn't be happier. The town is very beautiful when it’s not raining. Wednesday has been very productive as well. We have this standard size running track directly behind our building and I went out there early this morning for a little run. It's nice to have a routine and nice to get back into running again. There are a few other girls out here who enjoy running as well so we are looking for a 5K to do. However running out here is nothing like running with my running buddies back in the US (Cam & Beth). haha miss you girls! I met up with Laura and Charlotte for lunch. We walked into town and found a crepe restaurant. Mine was delicious, I had le Duplex, and it had ham, cheese, mushrooms, a little bit tomato sauce, and 2 eggs. I really enjoyed it.... Thinking back I should have taken a picture of it but next time I’ll be sure to take many a pictures of my dinners. For dessert Char, Laura, and I split a chocolate crepe for dessert. It was absolutely amazing. It wasn't nutella (which I still love anyways) but their home made chocolate. The crepe was called Chocolate Maison. Wow. Perhaps the best chocolate crepe I have ever had. Mom I definitely want to take you there when you come over for Christmas.

After lunch there was more paperwork to fill out. I am applying for APL which is a deduction on my housing because my income is so low.  Once the APL is approved my rent will be 140 euros instead of 465 euros. Can't wait for that to kick in!

Oh this is probably the best news but I have plans for Halloween. I'm going to Dublin with Laura and Alicia. We are very excited; none of us has been to Ireland before. We found a flight there for under 100 euros each so we'll be there for 4 days. I'm so excited to go to my other home land! hahaha. Dad I’ll be sure take many pictures of our relatives and any golf courses I see! Hahaha Wish I could tell Pop Pop I was going there. He would think that was great!



Laura is the girl on the left and Charlotte is the one on the right. This is the city of Laval and the photos I took on Wednesday. A little overcast but it didn't rain. Isn't this river beautiful?

10/5 rain, rain, go away!

Yes it's still raining here, but despite the rain I manage to accomplish a lot. I opened my French account at Crédit Mutuel, bought my bus pass, and some supplies for studio! My uggs are still wet, they never seem to dry, as the rain never seems to stop. It never rains hard but it is just always constant.

My German friend Julia cooked myself and Anna dinner. It was very good. She made pasta with a red sauce that had carrots and beef in it. The first red sauce I had with carrots but it was good and I enjoyed it. She also made a salad too, and it reminded me of you Leigh. Her salad mirrored your salad exactly, with the onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic. It felt like I was at chez Doyle. However she did use white balsamic instead of the one you use. It was good though.

Less than a week until my b-day!

 

10/4 Happy Birthday Beth!

Happy Birthday to my old roomie Beth!

We had more meetings today. Still haven't been to my actual school yet. Next week i'll be there and I'm really looking forward to that.

After the meetings I moved into my flat. It's great I have my own bathroom, bedroom, and little kitchenette. I love it. Thank you Anna for housing me for this past week! I still need to decorate it but its great. I'm in C-41. It's on the 5th floor and I have a beautiful view of the city. (Pictures are coming!)

Here is my address:

Jennifer Fogarty
Habitat Jeune Foyer Pierre de Coubertin C41
104, avenue Pierre de Coubertin
53000 Laval, France

Also if you would like to call me my number is: 06.47.18.29.81 and the country code for France is 33

But you will have to dial 336.47.18.29.81 and if you are in France than you just dial 06.47.18.29.81

They have international calling card at Walmart that are only about $30

10/3 Happy Birthday Charlotte

Today is Charlotte's actual birthday! It rained again!

10/2 Charlotte's Bday Party

Saturday morning was filled with rain, luckily by the early afternoon it stopped. Laura and I took the bus for the first time to le Carrefour (grocery store). I had planned on mostly walking all around Laval, however this rain makes it very difficult to arrive anyplace dry. But the public transportation here is cheap and easy. They have bus lines going all over the city. Le Carrefour is interesting and the French people amaze me some times, for instance, the eggs and the milk are not refrigerated in the grocery stores in France, if you only want to buy one soda from a 12-pack or 6-pack you can rip that soda out of the plastic wrap, they have 2 whole aisle of yogurt. I mean I’m a fan of yogurt but is 2 whole aisles really necessary? Another thing about the grocery store is that you have to put a euro in the shopping cart in order to use it. Once you put the euro in, it unlocks from the other carts. They also don't have plastic or brown bags at the store so it is a must that one remembers their bags before going to le Carrefour. But all in all it was a good experience, Laura and I bought some decorations and then a few other girls met up with us and we bought all the ingredients to makes crepes.

My friends Stephanie and Sara have the biggest flat so they hosted the soirée (that's French for party...lol). They live in a quad with 2 other girls. Most of the assistants live in a studio, so it’s too small to have everyone in such a tiny room. Like the dinner party Anna and I had, all of the guests had to bring a plate, utensils, and a glass. Julia who is from Germany made the crepes, her mother is originally from France and she has made them before, so naturally she was the best candidate to be the chef that night. She made ham and cheese crepes for the dinner then nutella crepes for the dessert. They were amazing. i think there was a total of 15 or 16 people at the party and we probably went through 10 bottles of wine, 3 bottle of champagne, and a bottle of vodka. It was a fun party! After that we made our way to our new favorite pub O'Reagans. It was a great way to start off the year with all my new friends and coworkers. They all are so nice and generous. Can’t wait to see how my party turns out

10/1 Ratatouille

Friday was filled with meetings in the morning with the director of the program and more rain. It really does rain quit often here, you must have an umbrella with you at all times. The weather is very unpredictable. In the morning it could be cold and rainy and the afternoon could be warm and sunny. It varies constantly.  Friday night I made dinner for some of my new friends, Charlotte (Scottish), Laura (English), Anna (American), and Julia (German).  I made ratatouille, pasta, and chicken. It turned out great considering it was my first time making it. The kitchens are very small and very difficult to cook in; there is a small sink, two hot plates, and a small counter. I was very impressed with my cooking skills considering the working conditions.

When you do have a dinner party you must tell all of your guests to bring a plate, fork, knife, spoon, and glass. The table setting usually looks pretty cool when it's set. Thank you Cindy for the strainer, knife, and cutting board. They fit perfectly into my suitcase and I have used them almost every day.


So this is Anna'a studio. Far left is Laura, then Charlotte, Anna, and Julia.

9/30 Kebab

Thursday

It started raining but that didn’t stop me from exploring. I went to le Troc (thrift shop), le mutant (discount grocery store, similar to a coop), l’eurodif (home goods store), post office, and a few other shops. But the highlight of my day had to be when I had a kebab for lunch. I’m not sure if any of you are familiar with a kebab but they are delicious. They have them all over France and when I studied in Dijon I would have them at least twice a week. A kebab is shredded meat on a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. They using put either mayo or white sauce on it. I’m not really sure what the white sauce is exactly but it’s good.  i met a few more assistants today, they have been coming from all over the world, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Wisconsin, California, and another one from England.

9/29 arriving in Laval

Wednesday

I arrived in Laval, such a charming town. Anna, another assistant picked me up at the train station and helped me carry my entire luggage back to the Foyer (name of the apartment complex).  Unfortunately there was some confusion at the Foyer and my room was not ready so Anna let me stay with her. Thankfully!

The Foyer is great, it is 5 floors and it houses a soccer team, young working professionals, students, and assistants. They have a cafeteria and a little cafe. The studios are very cute. They have a little kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom. I move into my studio on Monday so I’ll be sure to send pictures next week. Wednesday night me and a few of my new friends who are also assistants went out on the town. There is a total of 20 assistants here in Laval and they are all staying at the Foyer with me. Anna (American), Charlotte (Scottish), Laura (English), Sara (English), Julia (German), and Stephanie (American)  they are the girls who joined me Wednesday night.  We went to O'Reagans, its a cool Irish pub about 20 mins from the Foyer. It truly felt like an American bar and I felt like I was back in the states.


The first 2 are the Foyer and the last 2 are of the river La Mayenne which runs through the city.

Paris 9/27 & 9/28

Hey Everybody!

Paris was amazing! I had such a great time. Laetitia and her family were absolutely fabulous. There was no troubles on the flight, my seat couldn’t have been better (it was an aisle seat and no one was sitting next to me). Monday I slept until Laetitia came home from school and she showed me her high school and Benjamin’s middle school (Benjamin is her little brother). Laetitia’s mom Isabelle made a great dinner Monday night. It started with a tomato and mozzarella salad, then we had pork and ratatouille, after was the cheese, then dessert.  Laetitia works at a bakery and they make the most amazing breads, pastries, and muffins. Our dessert for both of the nights I stayed there were compliments of her bakery. Tuesday got off to a late start I didn’t wake up until noon, however within the hour I was off and exploring Paris. I first went to the les Champs - Elysees. That is equivalent of the Rodeo Drive of California or the 5^th Ave of New York. After a stroll thru the shopping store and purchasing a very cute purse I then went to le Musée d’Orsay or the Orsay museum. It has mostly impressionist pieces there.  I saw pieces by Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, and a few others. I took the metro all over Paris and there were no problems. After my excursion in city I went with Laetitia to her bakery where she works. It was truly en interesting experience, it reminded me a lot of my bagels days in Wilmington.