While having the time of my life exploring France, I have also been dealing with being sick for a little over three weeks now. For a while I was pretty convinced I had the pig flu, excusez-moi "H1 N1," but that didn't end up being the case. Instead the doctor told me it was just a long lasting cold giving me all sorts of unpleasant symptoms. Oh yes, I did indeed visit a French doctor. His name was Dr. English and surprisingly he did speak a few words of English. Visits to a doctor here are pretty interesting. To start, a doctor's office can appear on any random street you are on and it may just look like a house or apartment building. When I reached the door of the building I had to buzz the doctor's office to open the door. Someone answered and had me state my name and why I was there, in order to let me in. I thought that it might be slightly obvious why I was there but I answered her questions and was allowed inside. The office had a secretary next to the door, although I couldn't figure out her purpose. Dr. English seemed to do everything himself. He led me into the examining room, which also happened to be his office. Even during the middle of my exam, he answered his own phone, took apointments and even handled the payment (cash only). He acted like a little, old grandpa and was very nice. He wasn't rushed at all and was very patient when I slowly described my symptoms. This was a whole different experience. I had someone with me to translate, which was very nice, but did I understand most of what he was saying I was sick with. I did not, however, expect to be sent away with three prescriptions. I am feeling much better now and although my experience at the doctor's office was interesting, I hope it will be my last while I am here.

I'm on vacation now with three days off from school this week. Wahoo! London, here I come!

School and Chateaux

So, I know it's been a while since I have given you all an update about my abroad experience. I've been extremely busy going to school all day and traveling to the chateaux on the weekends! I cannot believe it has been 5 weeks already since I arrived in Angers. I miss home every day, but I have become well adjusted to this beautiful place and am loving it.

School is going really well. It has definitely been an experience taking classes in a language that I am just learning. However, I was thinking about this today and it wasn't long before I started to understand everything my professors were saying. My professors are very good at charades, but it's also not too difficult to pick up what they are saying after spending all day, every day immersed in the language. I'm taking a core French language class (Lange) and two elective classes: Expression Orale and Comprehension Orale. Expression is basically a speaking class that consists of many games and conversations with classemates. Comprehension is a listening class where we listen to different conversations and try to make sense of everything we hear. Due to the fabulous philosophy at CIDEF, I hardly have any homework to do because I spend most of the day at school. This does mean long hours and more participation during the school day, but it's actaully fun most of the time and i'm learning- so I can't complain!

One thing I didn't expect about my classes was for there to be people from so many different nationalities. I suppose I should have expected that since I am starting in a beginning level of French I wouldn't be joined by students of French nationality...duh! Most of the other students in my class speak English, which can be nice at times but has also proved to get me in trouble. I found that during the first couple weeks, people would turn to me and ask for clarification in English if they didn't understand something. Well, I would quietly answer them and then hear "non parler anglais!!!" from the professor. I never thought I would be avoiding English but it has helped me improve my French, not to mention not getting me in trouble! After going to school here for a month I can say that I feel very accomplished and excited about the French I have learned thus far. My host mother tells me that I'm improving, so i'm just going to take her word for it!

On the weekends I have been going on excursions with my program and they have been awesome. I have been up and down the Loire valley already and it's such a beautiful area of France. The area is known for all of the chateaux ( I think there are ten) and i've been to four of them. Each one is unique and has it's own history. I get a different feeling when I'm inside each one and I always wonder what it would have been like to live there. It is crazy to think about how old the chateaux are and that I am standing inside of them. Not saying that I don't love Oregon, because I do, but probably the oldest structure there is a barn. It's just a little cool to live around the corner from King Reni's chateau :)

That's all for tonight, bonne nuit!

Kaitlin