Essays, Packing and Strawberries with Olives

Salut,

 It is the last week of classes here in Rennes and we are all thrilled to be close to done. Of course in true French fashion we have an entire week to make up all the random classes our teachers cancelled throughout the semester and most of them take place at 8:15 in the morning so this week, not even an official week of classes, may be the worst yet! For students here the classes are not mandatory and they are pretty much done with their projects and papers, now they turn their focus to exams in three weeks. But sadly for the international students these classes are still mandatory, we still have lots of work, possibly the most so far in fact due all at the same time and we still have to make it from 1945 to 1980 in French history and civilization in a two and half hour class on Tuesday to finish our syllabus. Yikes! Fortunately for me I turned in one law paper early in the semester, finished my 20 minute oral presentation on Sartre this week (ugh was it rough!) and just have to bust out 3 pages worth of analysis on the Israeli Palestinian conflict for Monday. I also have another law paper and a colonial history of Haiti to write but I have a few weeks on those. Today was market day so a few of us headed out this morning to grab a few provisions for the upcoming week. I of course was more concerned with buying strawberries and olives. Strawberries are in season in Spain and we are reaping the rewards here. We eat them in the cafeteria, in the park and I gulp down entire packages sitting in my room doing work. All of you who knew me when I was little understand my obsession with black olives and strawberries so I am sure are not surprised that I can often be found eating the two together for lunch, dinner or snacks. Also good, whipped cream! Once I finish my paper I will be turning my attention to preparing for Thursday, I am headed to London to meet up with Elle! Elle is taking two weeks away from UVM to come visit me and we have been planning this trip for almost a year now so we are pretty excited its actually happening. Our flights are booked, hotels are set and I have purchased a new backpack special for the occasion. Now I just have to keep track of all my boarding passes and manage to get 10 days worth of clothes into a tiny little backpack. I will be taking a train to Paris, flying from Paris to London and spending the night there with Elle. On Friday we head to Dublin for a few days, I am looking forward to Easter Mass in english! We have lots to do in Dublin. On Wednesday the 27th we fly to Paris and are there until May 2nd. Between fish and chips, the Guiness Factory and shopping in Paris we will be very busy but if you have any suggestions of where to go or places to eat please email/facebook/comment! I will have no computer for the duration of the trip so this is also a warning that you probably not hear from me for awhile. Fear not, I will be back with lots of pictures and plenty to blog about. Not too many photos this week but I do have a few, spring is progressing nicely so we are all spending plenty of time outside. Til May 2nd, Love from France!

Courtyard at School

Second Courtyard

Classroom ( I have class hear at least once every day for 2 hours)

Another look at break time

A Day at the Beach: St Malo

Bonjour!
 It was another good week here in Rennes, the time seems to be flying by! I cannot believe it is already April 10 and that it is roughly only a month and a half before I am home again. School is at the toughest, lots of work and crazy make up sessions for the classes that our professors missed. I have a big oral presentation on Sartre come Thursday so that is occupying me for the most part. The weather has stayed amazing here, 60 and 70s all week and lots of time spent hanging out in the courtyard between classes and trying to find people to picnic with. Wednesday I was able to sit in on bible study back in Burlington via skype which was really great. Although hearing about how it had randomly started snowing in the middle of a pretty nice sunny day made me happy I was here! Some of the international students got together to make fajitas on Friday and we also had a really good ice cream role sort of thing which was very good, similar to the Friendly's ice cream logs we get at home. It has been so hot all I can think of is Ben and Jerry's which is really lacking in my life. Saturday was the exciting day of my week because I headed to St Malo on the train. Just an hour or so from Rennes St Malo is a beautiful city with long beaches. A section of the city is very old and is completely walled in. There is also a small off shoot that sits just outside the city walls and is reachable when the tide is out, when the tide is becomes an island. There were lots of flowers and ice cream stands and by 3 in the afternoon it seemed the entire city had come out to walk around and enjoy the sun. On the beach itself was a little chilly from the wind but it was still lovely. I found some seaglass, a giant piece actually so even in France the Jersey shore tradition continues. The sand was slightly odd in that in certain sections the sand sunk beneath you as you walked giving you the impression that you might sink away in quick sand but it never went farther than your ankles so it was alright. The water was frigid but I suppose it was the "english" channel so I was expecting that. There was an incredible number of sailboats out on the water and a guy para wheeling? on the beach in his little cart with a giant kite. Very cool to watch. It was a long day in the sun and of course I came away with the mandatory irish sun burn which made everyone at home laugh but it was well worth it for a day at the beach in April! Saturday night was a friend's birthday so we had a party and some really great cake. As I had gotten out of bed at 5:30am to get my train I was ready to head to bed pretty early. Now its Sunday and the sun is less hot but its still nice. Have to sign off because I have a long day of work ahead of me. Love from France!

St Malo Train Station

Ferry to England

Soldier Tower

Bay St Sauven

Island Fortress

Low Tide

No longer an Island Fortress

St Malo walled city

Retractable Bridge 

Main Gate

City Garden

The walls of St Malo

Pirate Ship?

Home again Home again Jigitty Jig

  

La France en Avril: Le Vrai Printemps!

Bonjour from France,
   It is spring! Really and truly! I am sending warm thoughts to those of you still battened down in winter. Take solace in the fact that Spring exists and it will be coming your way soon. Don't worry I will bring some home in my suitcase in June for sure. April has brought sun, blue skies and 70 degree weather. Here its 20's (weird to hear as warm) and it means everyone is Rennes is out and about. We have had some fun get togethers recently, with good weather comes being able to run around in the evenings without being worried about walking home late. It was nearly impossible to negotiate the market this saturday. There are cartons of amazing strawberries everywhere and everyone takes picnics to the park. April also means that there are lilac bushes and green grass in the courtyard of school. Our ten minute breaks during class are a mad dash to grab a good spot in the sun outside and no one wants to go back to the freezing lecture halls when break is over. I cannot believe how nice it feels to be outside in a skirt! We have been trying to eat outside at restaurants and spend time in the park. All the international students are getting as much sun as humanly possible. I was trying to explain that all the sun should be helpful to our moods to some fellow students today. They had never heard of SAD or happy lights because the concept of only 3 real months of sun is impossible to them. Obviously they don't know much about the great north east! School is really kicking all of our butts right now but we are doing our best to keep up with it all. I am currently working on an article analysis for my Israeli Palestine Conflict class, an evaluation of the legislative systems in Germany, England and France, an expose on the life of Jean Paul Sartre, and an analysis of the colonizing of some random country (suggestions welcome). Seems impossible this will all get done, and in French but I have hope! I also registered for classes today back home. Senior Fall will be a rough one but I am looking forward to a big thesis project and some great professors so should be fun! This weekend I am headed to the beach, so look for pics from that. Cannot wait! I included some photos this week, they are a little bit random but thought they would be interesting. They provide a quick glance at my ongoing life in Rennes.

Flower Market

My lovely bank

Rennes Star Bus

Alice Matt and Natasha 

Miri, Matt and I 

Parc Tabour 

Picnic at Tabour

Tabour

Statue at Tabour

Green Houses at Tabour

All my love from France. Until next time!