C'est Fou Aussi!

Ironic! It’s the same word in French (except that in French it is spelled with a “que” and not “c”). I say ironic because what you are reading is in english, but you know that I don’t want to speak nor write in english. That’s why you don’t receive these posts when they happen. Each night when I go home I recount my stories in French and then go to the Lounge Café later on to translate them. Crazy? Not really. I want to practice my French writing and I can practice my translating skills at the same time. It works very well that way!

Thursday: Carnaval! Religious holiday? Maybe in your county, but in France that is hardly the case! I started my day with my literature class and then I went home to take a nap. After the nap I went to the university for my civilization course that was supposed to start at 16h00; however, when I arrived there was only my friends Amanda, Sarah, and me. We waited for a few minutes for the professor, but he never came. Finally I said, “Well, because we are the only ones here, if we leave before he comes in late there will be no class and we can go to Carnaval with the other students!” That wasn’t quite the case. We left and went to Carnaval, but there was class. Apparently the professor was on the ground floor while we were waiting for him on the 4th floor. Our class is always on the 4th floor; therefore, I don’t understand why he was on the ground floor. He found two other Chinese students from our class and decided to have class in another building. I don’t know why! Oh well! I went to Carnaval with my friends and the other students from the university and it turned out to be much more cultural than a civilization course!

At Carnaval there was a huge parade! It wasn’t like Baylor’s Homecoming parade! It was thousands of students dressed up walking in through the streets of Caen. Everyone was drunk and everyone smoked. There was a guy that approached me and asked (in english) if I was looking for pot. I used the universal word “NO!” To help you imagine this a little better, please understand that I was actually in the parade! I was walking with the other drunken students while they were smoking. It was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen in my life! I was sad that I had left my camera at home! Qu’est qu’on va faire?

After Carnaval I went to the gym and then went out with Rachel. While trying to decide where we wanted to go, I sent a text message to our new friend Guillaume that works at the Lounge Café to ask him if he wanted to go out with us. After I sent the text message I received a call. It was him and he wanted us to meet him in a café next to the university where he was working. I was VERY happy! When we got there a band was playing very loudly. Guillaume was very happy to see us and gave us free drinks! He said “It’s a gift!” Thanks Guillaume! He also said that one night he wanted to invite us to his place for a soirée that would make us remember France (I don’t know what that means, but I guess we’ll have to see!)

Friday : I went to the university as usual and then went home to do laundry. I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR! OUI! After that I went to the gym where I met a man that I see there all of the time. When he saw me he said, “You’re American right?” “Yes” I responded. Then he asked me from where in the United States I was from and when I said Texas someone else said, “San Antonio Spurs!”. We then had a conversation about American sports and Texas teams. The guys knew all of the teams of Texas! How? That is a great question !

After the gym I went home to eat with Yves-Marie. The others had things to do for the evening and I had to eat early because of church. After I ate I went to church where I had a great time! Rachel and I were invited to go to the apartment of one of our French friends (Romain) after church, but when we got to the tram stop the tram was VERY late and we had to walk. Rachel sent Romain a text message and then called him. He was very nice and insisted that we come to see him anyway. When we got to his apartment he was very welcoming. He offered us something to drink and spoke with us for an hour and a half. He then took us home in his car.