poitiers, two weeks in

Sorry, I guess I've been neglecting this blog a little. I didn't mean to do that, it just sort of happened!

Things are going well in Poitiers. I do love the town. It's so much bigger than Chauny, so while others feel like they're trapped in some tiny city, I feel like I'm in a real town! It's also more youthful and there's always something to do. The only thing I really miss about Chauny (besides the people obviously) is my cafe.

They've been keeping us busy. We've done day trips to Melle, La Rochelle, Angles sur l'Anglin (a cute medieval town), l'Abbaye St Savin, and Cognac. I've enjoyed all the trips immensely, and that's not just the 10am Cognac tasting talking. We also took a boat tour down the Charentes which was fun and relaxing though we were all practically melting in the heat.

Classes have been going well. I have a feeling I'll be freaking out in about a week or so from the onslaught of work, but we'll see. For those wondering, I'm taking (all in French just translated for your benefit) European Politics, Cinema of the Nouvelle Vague, and Grammar for Teaching French as a Foreign Language.

I love the people here. We're a small group (9 people), but we've been getting along nicely. There's also Jeanne who is the assistant director of the program, but she's more like our fun and hilarious "big" sister (at the age of 26... making her older than two of us), and we adore her. Then, there's Salwa, our director and politics prof. She's funny in a different way than Jeanne, and she's just amazing. She's from Lebanon originally, so she has a strong accent which just adds to her charm. She was actually Claire's teacher when she was going to school here. Next up is Annie, our energetic grammar prof who's Jeanne's mother (pure coincidence that that happened). She has taught us some really good simplified rules to use with students. Lastly (for me) is Francisco who speaks a mile a minute and is very passionate about his profession.

Also, all the meals we've had out together have been amazing. Yum! Oh, real delicious French cuisine, how I wish I knew you before!

Wednesday is a holiday (Bastille Day - French version of Independence Day), so we don't have classes, and if it doesn't rain, we will be watching some fireworks. Then, this weekend, I'm off to visit Jessica in Niort. Can't wait!