Ça va

            Surprisingly enough, I woke up to cloudy skies and the dry earth soaked in Mediterranean rain. While I was perfectly content in shorts and a t-shirt, the rest of my host family layered in long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I was even asked if I needed some socks! <<mais, non, ça va>> “but no, it’s going.” That’s actually a horrible-sounding literal translation, but this is a phrase signifying contentment, acknowledgement of the feelings of another person (<<Ça va?>> Means “how’s it going?” and you can respond with <<ça va>> “it’s going”), and also if you want to say you don’t need help.

For me, <<ça va bien>> it’s going well. I woke up around 11am (really late for me! But tomorrow I will be making pancakes with maple syrup so I will hopefully wake up earlier) and had an omelet for lunch with the family. It’s nice to have every meal together and to put everything away when we are done. That sounds insignificant but it’s one way that I feel like I am a part of the family.

Axel and Lucie took me to apply for my bus pass that will take me to school and the mall to get my school supplies. It was kind of like Target or Cub but with TONS of people due to the “weather”. And out of all the people there, I was the only one that I could see who had blond hair with blue eyes. I asked Axel and Lucie if that was uncommon and they said that many people have false blond hair, some people have lighter eyes (more hazel I think) but the combination of blond hair and blue eyes in the Mediterranean is different. It usually signifies that you are from the northern European countries… like my family. There were a few little kids who looked at me with curiosity and I just wonder what they were thinking…

I mentioned eating cereal and tea for breakfast and they were so kind asking me to choose what I would like to eat for le petit déjeuner (small lunch/breakfast). I explained that I’m not a picky eater and that I’d like to try having a more “French breakfast” so I chose some brioche (basically buns that eat with jelly, nutella, butter etc.) and, this is kind of embarrassing because it was such an impulse, English breakfast tea. I have to laugh because I have made a few English references already! As of now, however, I am on my way to be prepared for school that starts on Tuesday. I think I mentioned it being on Wednesday, but that was my mistake. My host sister, Diatou, who is on exchange in Northfield, will start school on the same day but in a different time zone. That is so strange. We were able to skype her and it’s funny to hear about the cultural differences, but those are for you to ask her about J. 

Strangely enough, I had a Senegalese dish for dinner that tasted like something I eat back home. It was like pork chops and sauerkraut with applesauce even though it consisted of lemon, meat, sauce and I forget all the rest! But that along with a tarte à la courgette (cucumber pie) made for a delicious dinner. Everyone agreed that I should learn how to make the dish and be able to re-make it when I return to Northfield.

I also had my first conversation in English with Axel. We talked about New York, basketball, how many of the Minnesotan sports teams are not very good (sorry guys) and he told me that he saw a basketball game between the Nix and Timberwolves in France! I was so surprised and even more so when he told me that the Timberwolves won that pre-season game. Thank you for not embarrassing me J. Axel wants to come to the United States one of these days and I hope that he does because his English is pretty good! Now it’s fun when every once in a while my host sisters and Axel will say an English phrase like “that’s coooool” or something like that and I can’t help but to realize how okay I am not speaking English because I can still make myself semi-understood. It is strange when I hear people talking in the other room and I expect it to be in English, mais non! Gosh, that’s weird.

My host father, El Hadj, has made a few calls to his family in Senegal and I’ve heard some of the language – it’s very different but I want to learn some phrases sometime. In fact, I’m glad that I get to see this part of the French culture because it’s very prominent where I live. On our way from the airport to the house on my first day Bob Marley was playing in the background. Last night at the street market, someone was singing a Bob Marley song. It goes quite nicely with the chill atmosphere of Puget and the surrounding area. Vive la France et le Sénégal!

When I become more acquainted with people and I begin school next week I will talk more about the clothes. For now, just know that I’ve seen as many popped collars as I did on “bro day”.

Bonne nuit,

Pouille (poo-wee) - the kitty!!!

Les omelettes with Axel

Tarte à la courgette

Maggie