Sunday, January 27, 2013

There are croissant flakes in my tea...

Yesterday I went to the town of Avignon and visited Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes). What a beautiful place it was. Note: It's part of Provence, you know, the region with all of the Lavender? Montpellier is part of Languedoc Roussillon.
 Here's a photo I took of the city from inside the Palace...
 And some photos of the Palace itself...

 That's a golden statue of Mary on the top there....beautiful


Of course there is a lot of history intertwined with the Palace of Popes, and the city itself. What I took away was that there was a total of 9 popes who stayed here, 2 being slightly more significant historically than the others. For some popes, this was a "summer house", and others lived here primarily and swore they were THE pope, fighting for power against the king and the other popes living in other parts of Europe. Yeah, sometimes there would be 3 popes.
Organ inside of the little Cathedral connected to the Palace

Basically, a lot went on here, even though this isn't really a "pop" historic place. Very cool stuff! Of course parts here and there have been ruined. Soldiers who where stationed here ruined a lot of stuff, like chipping faces off of the wall murals and selling them. I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the head-less murals, for the museum's fear my camera flash would do further damage, ha.
Above: Proof of my existence. Note to self: Buy gloves. Stop making sweater udders with your cold fists.
                      Above:  Theatre! They have a world wide theater festival every July.
                        Above: Rock formation and pond made inside of it!
                                        Above: I spot the rare French-Robot Scarecrow.

After a nice long day we headed home to have the typical 8pm dinner with our French families. Of course we drove by plenty of vineyards.
We chased the sunset home, and it was beautiful.

Ahh. Time to rest!

A quick note about the hospital culture...

Like I said before, the Institut was one of my favorite places that I've visited so far. The children and the staff are very friendly, and extremely open.

But when I say open, I mean really, truly open.

I arrived with another American and we sat in a private classroom with a couple French children, because the English teacher had that day off. The French teacher let us sit and listen as she taught some French exercises to the children who are about 15 years old. I listened, understanding the questions but not the answers.

At one point, the teacher looked up at me, pointed to one of the students and said "He has dyslexia." (In French. The word is really similar, so I understood.) I didn't know what to make of this. I looked at him (he was sitting next to me) and I said "Pas de problem!" (No problem!) and the teacher agreed, the student smiled. He was not phased at all.

My brain: What is happening?!

In the second classroom, a different girl had stood up and said, "I am here because I have arthritis."

When recess began, I talked to the teacher who spoke some English, but he explained to me in French that in the French culture, especially at the institute/hospital, they encourage children to be open. He said they should feel comfortable asking questions and being around other people who have different ailments. For children especially, maladies can be confusing and this way they feel free to ask questions and not be ashamed of being different.
 He said they will talk about anything! I challenged this: Anything? Really? Well, serious mental illnesses and very serious terminal problems are not really discussed.

Ah, okay. So that's very different from the American culture, where normally medical history is kept private or shared with close friends and family, and there tends to be a lot of medical stigmas. This environment appears to be a very healthy one, with a very different outlook. While I have a lot to learn about this...
                                 Maybe our institutions could learn a thing or two?
Later!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The Children's Hospital

 So, the other day I went to the Institut Saint Pierre, and I think it might be my new favorite place.

The Institute is a hospital for handicapped children or children with disorders/disabilities.

Visiting this hospital was the moment I had been waiting for and I was not at all disappointed. Located on the sea with a entire beach at the backdoor, it is an ideal place for children to heal and thrive. 

There are several hospital wing sections, but there is also a schoolhouse. For some children who are recovering from surgeries, this is their primary school. For others, they visit part time as a supplement to their regular school.

My friend and I were well received by the children and the staff. First we sat in a classroom with 2 middle-school aged children, without really understanding what was going on.
 In the science classroom with about 10 students, we were allowed to introduce ourselves in French and English. A lot of students learn English so the teacher thought it would be a cool exercise trying to communicate with each other using both languages. The kids primarily spoke French with a tiny bit of English, save for one kid who was a English wiz.

The kids asked us various things like, what do we think about guns (Oh boy!), and how much does an American car cost, and how do we live here for a semester without making any money? All good questions. Luckily, my political opinions were all pretty well received by the teachers and students.

After some chatting, it was RECESS time! But it was the best recess ever, because recess is on the BEACH!
Amazing. The kids were so friendly, wanting to take picture directly after the teacher told us not to take pictures with individuals. (These pictures are okay since they show crowds and are hard to identify faces.)

After recess we got to play hangman with the kids. We used English words like "Yellow", "Brad Pitt", "Dolphin" and "Blueberry" (We were reminded not to go crazy with the food selection because some kids are on restricted diets). The kids were so fun to be around! I cannot wait to go back!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Some things I like about Montpellier/France, so thus far..

So lately I've been partaking in many "orientation-esque" activities: these aren't bad, but they are not the most interesting to blog about, either. So instead, I will just put some highlights: things I have discovered and like, instead of a long convoluted story about all of the orientations I've visited.

1. The beignet with nutella.
Okay, so this photo looks a bit like a weird hamburger. It's not. 
Essentially what we have here is a nutella sandwhich on a doughnut. I'm pretty sure there's nothing worse for me to have indulged in. Worth it? Totally. But I think I will be avoiding this bad boy for a while.

Something I like about France is that they have some of the most well-regulated food laws here. (In fact, my French Father works for the "FDA" of France, which is pretty cool! He knows there's a lot of corruption in our American FDA, but in France it is bien!) So, while this might be horrible for me, it's still probably better than eating twinkies. (Au revoir forever, twinkies!)

Oh, but don't worry. I ate less than half of this pesto-pasta thing at a cafe before I ate that monstrosity above. Well, this is the largest portion I have seen since I arrived here. It was good since I like pesto, but the meat...no.

The meat is some sliced smelly-thing. I see the appeal but I really don't like the flavor of this. Somebody please tell me what this meat is called so I can tell the next restaurant that I do not like it.

Otherwise, home-made pesto, yum.

2. This guy.

Cat man. Balances cats on his arms and head. When he raises his hand they raise their furry little paws. Adorable. Go ahead and Youtube "Cat Man". His name is Bela, and he has a cute little video addressing what he does. He is an artist who loves his kitties very much, and they are professionally trained cats who are well taken care of. Don't try to pet his cats though. They will kill you. 
3. The buildings here

I can't say a lot about these buildings history-wise (just yet), but they are so beautiful!

Okay, so obviously there is a lot more to like about France. For example, that you see people carrying baguettes everywhere, and we eat cheese almost every night at dinner. Oh, and the SUN!
Anyway, it just happens that I need to go eat some lunch... dejeuner, alors, je m'excuse, a plus tard!

More to come

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Ah, I'm here, finally..

After 11 hours of flying, I have finally arrived. But it's not easy. You see, I suffer from jetlag as well as a bit of 'home' sickness.

On the right is a photo of my adorable host sister, "CANDY". I thought her happy/sleepy face was a good portrayal of my excitement and jetlag. Instead of taking a photo of myself, in which I looked like Medusa. Plus, her face here is kind of tranquil, and reminds me of Buddha.


My host family is amazing. They speak to me in French full-time save for a word or two. My mamie Francais is very helpful, and very welcoming. What's amazing is that I already understand maybe 75%-85% of what they are saying to me. Also, they understand me at least 60-85% of the time, which is a very indescribable feeling, but an amazing one.

When I think "Wow, I am saying french words and they understand me", I literally cannot believe it for two seconds, then get insecure and stop thinking about it.


Yesterday I arrived and was swept to a middle school classroom for students learning English. The teacher was cool, but he showed a bizarre video to the students that would definitely not fly in America. It was a clay-mation of a young Australian girl writing a middle-aged man in new york. (Letters from Mary and Max). Mary declares that babies are found in beer cans, and that she likes sweetened condensed milk, and something about her father liking to "play with dead birds" (taxidermy). Then the man proceeds to write about how he has many jobs, one being in a condom factory, and that he does not like the bible or God.
 Can you say Woah? It's crazy how chill the teacher is about showing this. You know if your teacher in America showed this to you (especially in middle-school), that you would never ever see your teacher again. They wouldn't even live in the same country as you anymore. I like observing this difference, because I felt like it proves that as Americans, we are not as open-minded as we think we are. Even I admit that I would hesitate to let my child watch this, which makes me re-think my own views a little.


Today, 1/22/2012,

I took the placement test for French and I think it went OK. Save for a few words, and a few questions, I was pretty well off. I think I will get into the B1 level that I want, and if not I can whine about it in two weeks and have a chance to prove my abilities.
 
image.jpegAfter our tests we (me and two other Americans) went with a guide around Montpellier. It was fab. This place is pretty modern compared to other parts of France, but there is still rich history here. We learned about Saint Roch who our guide called "Superman of Montpellier" (imagine that phrase with a French accent, it's better that way). He helped several people during the black plague, with studying medicine. Which leads us to the institut de medicine that we visited - supposedly the first school of medicine in Europe, which is very very competitive and contains a museum of anatomy. Oh, and a bunch of famous people studied there, but the only one I recall is Jean-Jacque Roulousson.
A pope used to live here, and he allowed for the construction of a medicine facility,but only under his roof.


We actually started in Place de comedie, which is a very popular and beautiful place, named such because there is an old opera house there (cool!). This is a barely-decent photo I took of the fountain in the middle of the square. What I weaned from the guide was that the females are the three graces, which I learned about in high school during my Greek mythology class. Pretty pretty! But I know, I need some less fuzzy photos. They will come, they will.



Now that you are very bored of reading like a page of text, (shame on you, reading is good for you, even if it's only my 3rd grade level blog!), I will give you a bunch of pictures of some of the streets I saw earlier. These are pretty, very European movie-esque streets that have close together walls. Okay, one more thing, I believe they were built so close together to stave off anticipated invaders back in the day. Not 100% on this but I think it's a for sure thing.




Okay, later!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

How it began, how it begins...

Upon first glancing at this blog, you may ask yourself, "What? Kayla is studying abroad for four months in Montpellier, France?" 

And even though you were only speaking to yourself, I would still reply "Why yes. Yes I am."

This blog is designed to help me illustrate my journey to Montpellier, France, so that those reading my blog can have a little window into my journey. Friends, family, or strangers, welcome!

So Kayla, I'm suddenly really interested, what is a Montpellier? What are you going to do with it?

Montpellier is a city in the south of France, capital of the Languedoc Roussillion region, where I will be staying from January 20th to May 26th. Which means it's not Paris. So stop assuming it's Paris. Because it's not.

But Kayla, Paris is supposed to be the chic-est place ever! What is so great about Montpellier? 

Well, I can't really tell you everything awesome about Montpellier, because I haven't been there yet. But I can tell you a couple things: it's not Paris, which makes it a much more unique experience for me. Montpellier is on the coast, which means ocean! I love ocean, and you cannot get that in Pair-ee. Also, it's about an hour from Marseilles, which my mom tells me is where the "Marcy" part of the family is from. So basically, it's my lost kingdom and I need to go stake out my claim (kidding..).

But, I cannot pronounce 'Montpellier', so I will just call it Paris and we will both know what I mean...
Okay, that's fine with me. Here's the deal, I did Paris for a day last year, which obviously was not enough time. But it was enough time for me to get lost, see the Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower. I spoke a little French, but people took one look at me and handed me an English menu. I'm not a huge city person, and the Parisians are notorious for having a not-so-friendly countenance. I don't blame them, really; how would you feel if millions of people came through your city all the time, and you had to know all of their languages because none of them speak good enough French? Plus none of these people are as mighty as you, because you're a true Parisian. It makes things tough... okay, here's where I kid again.

Okay, but I'm still not so sure why you chose Montpellier...or France, for that matter. Don't you know about Germany? 
Well, I see your point. There's a lot to it, actually. Maybe the whole backstory will have to be in the form of another post. For now, here's the short of it:
I found a flier for a service-learning program in Montpellier. It allows me to gain 12 credits in straight-up French!  That's great because I want to be awesome at French but only knowing maybe 2 French people makes it difficult to perfect my French while in America.
On top of the curriculum, there is a requirement for volunteer work. If I play my cards right, I will work in a hospital with children who have cognitive disorders or trauma. While it is volunteer work and is essentially to help the kids, I already know I will blessedly get so much out of it. I will be speaking French in a healthcare environment, and observing how a different culture does mental health. (In case you don't know me, mental health is a BIG deal to me.) I also get to stay with a lovely host family (have already wrote them!) and I am confident with all of this it will be much easier to learn French than in Paris.

I just know you're dying to read more, right? Okay maybe not. Thanks for listening, and check back in later for actual information.

-
Kayla