Week Nine

The first week of vacation is almost over and I’m very sad. My comfortable time is closing and the time that requires me to work is about to begin again; although, it has been a pretty good vacation.

Monday, I went swimming with my district coordinator. For those of you who don’t know, within Rotary youth exchange there are people who are in charge of the students with in the in individual Rotary clubs and then there is a person who is in charge of all the students in the district. This person is called the district coordinator. I felt like I had to try something new and I had wanted to get into swimming so when he asked if I wanted to I said yes. You have to bear in mind however that I have never really swam swam, by that I mean I haven’t swam laps before. I know how swim and I know the strokes but it was rough never the less. After swimming we saunaed, which was also a first for me. Anyway, I think a combination of the two things did not do me well because I ended up puking. Not my finest moment but it wasn’t that bad.

On Wednesday, I went to my host dad’s parent’s house in a town called Luçon, which is about thirty minutes away from La Roche. We ate a nice lunch and then went to my host dad’s brother’s new house. It was nice in a French kind of way. I don’t think that it is something you would have really found in the US. While in Luçon, we went to a nice public garden. It was immense and very beautiful. It would be cool getting to go there everyday and explore the whole area.

Thursday, I took my first trip to the library with my host sisters. I was feeling a little brave so I checked out a book that I like a lot in English in French. I figure I’ll give it a chance and see if I understand it. Reading in French is difficult however because there is a past tense that is used only when writing. It’s not something that was ever really stressed in my French class so I haven’t really been exposed to it before. After the library I went to the shopping mall to look for shoes for my host sister. I ended up finding a lot of stuff that I like but I’ll save it for another day. We went to a nice bookstore with lots of good music.

The weekend was amazing. On Saturday I went to a castle called Chambord, which is largest in the Loire Valley. It was immense and beautiful. We met up with some family friends to tour the castle. This castle was simply amazing and incredibly beautiful. We had luck on our side as well because it closed just as we finished the tour.

Saturday night we stayed at the friends’ house in Tours. It was crazy to be in Tours because it is the city that my Grandma stayed in while she was in France. She told me the name of the hotel she stayed at while she as there and I was able to find it and go inside. It was sort of surreal to be in a place that my grandma had been so long ago. I feel so honored to be able to see and experience the same things that she did when she was here. I think that it really adds a level to this exchange and makes me that much more grateful to be here.

Saturday marked two months here. I feel like I should acknowledge all the progress that I have made and will continue to make. I couldn’t have said that I spoke French before I left and I still don’t really feel like I am able to do that but I can say that I am able live in another place and survive and I know that by the end of the year I will be able to speak French and that blows my mind. I still can’t believe the progress I’ve made in French. This year will change me in many ways. They tell you of the things you will go through during your exchange before but before you do not have the capacity to understand what it will really feel like to be away from home, away from every one you know. This is a good thing because it means that an extreme amount of growth is possible but it is also a very difficult thing.

I would just like to say that I am extremely grateful for all that everyone has done to get me here and who have helped along the way in any way. You are amazing.