The fast few days have been an absolute blast. Friday night I got back from class a little late. Patricia and I ended up talking a ton during dinner and didn’t finish until around 10:00! It was a blast getting to talk to her. Her son stopped by and told me about the U2 concerts he went to in Paris and Nice. It got me so incredibly excited to see U2 this fall!
Saturday morning, Patricia, Trisha and I went to the market in Rennes. I am so sad that this visit to the market was my last (because I leave next Saturday!). I ate so many delicious things- kiwis, flat peaches, flat nectarines, mango, bread, pastries. Yum. And the smell of the flowers is beyond anything you can imagine. Overall, I just adore the environment of the market on Saturday mornings and I am definitely going to miss it a ton. I ended up running into a bunch of Villanova students at the market. A few of us really wanted to tour the Parliament building in Rennes because it is absolutely beautiful. Patricia took Trisha, Matt, Serena, Sarah and I to the office of Tourism and we were able to reserve a spot for a tour. The building was so amazing! I took tons of pictures of the paintings and architectures inside the various rooms. The building actually caught fire a few years back and we got to learn about the renovation process and how all of the artwork was restored. It was a blast.
I returned home with Patricia after our tour, showered, ate dinner and got ready to spend the night at Serena’s house. Patricia offered to drive Sarah and I to the Metro station because of the bus situation. We left around 8:30. The following hour was probably one of the most hysterical hours of my life. On our way to the Metro station (it usually only takes about 10 minutes to drive there from my house) I saw a girl hitchhiking. I was literally about to ask Patricia if hitchhiking was legal in France when she swerved over to the side of the road. Well, if hitchhiking is illegal, I guess I can now saw that I have broken a law while studying abroad. Patricia exchanged a few words with the hitchhiker (just for visual purposes- she had dreadlocks, was dressed in baggy clothes and smelled kind of funny) and then unlocked the door for her to come in! She hopped in next to Sarah and fastened her seatbelt. I was dying. Trying so hard to hide my laughter…but I was in absolute shock that before I could even figure out how to ask Patricia my question about hitchhiking, there was a real, live hitchhiker in our car! So crazy. Patricia just continued to have a normal conversation with her. I found out that the hitchhiker works at Speedy Rabbit Pizza and was headed to the center of the city to hang out with her friends after work. We listened to music, Patricia sang as usual, everything went on as it normally would. But I could not stop laughing.
The funniest part is that Patricia decided that she wanted to stop by Esmeralda’s house to tease Joey (she totally likes to take advantage of the fact that he doesn’t speak any French. And I am pretty sure she has a crush on him). So, she asks the hitchhiker if she would mind if we took a quick pit stop. She responded that she didn’t mind at all. What. The. Heck?? So we pulled up to Esmeralda’s with the hitchhiker and waltz into her house as if it were just another day. Patricia immediately started talking to Joey who had two friends over for dinner. She then proclaimed “Perfect! We have three boys- Joey, Brian and Benji, and three girls- Kelsey, Sarah, and….” Esmeralda chimed in that she had just talked to the hitchhiker and her name was Pauline. Oh hey, nice to meet you Pauline. Glad you could spend the evening with us! Too funny. The boys were SO confused. They kept asking me to explain what the heck was going on, but though I can understand French much better than they can, I really could not even begin to comprehend what was going on. I kept saying that I had no idea who Pauline was- none of us did! Patricia then started to flirt with Brian, asked him if his dad looks anything like him, and if so, was he available. She is crazy!
Meanwhile, Pauline is standing in the corner, actively participating in the conversation, as if she had known us all for years! We eventually left Esmeralda’s and dropped Pauline off in the center of the city. She was actually quite pleasant. However, I don’t think I have been convinced that picking up random people on the side of the road is always a great decision.
I spent the night in the city with some Villanova students. We hung out on a street that is full of bars, restaurants and clubs for a while, but then it got kind of lame. Serena and I decided we wanted to go to the café that sells all the different kinds of hot chocolate to play cards. It was a blast; the atmosphere in the café is so fun. It totally reminds me of the Griffin Café in Wayne- aka I’m pretty much in love with it. We hung out there for a while and then headed back to meet up with all the Villanova students. I walked back towards Serena’s house with Serena and Matt around 2:00; Serena and I ended up talking until almost 3:30 in the morning. Didn’t get much sleep!
Today, Serena ate lunch at my house with Patricia. It was so fun. We mostly teased Serena about how much she uses the phrase “Oh mon dieu” (“oh my God”) while conversing with people here. Regardless of the severity of the situation, those words are almost guaranteed to come out of her mouth at least three times/hour. Too funny. After lunch, we went and picked up Sarah and Esmeralda. We all headed to this really amazing town, La Gacilly, for the afternoon. It was probably one of the cutest towns I have ever been to. There are SO many shops that sell all sorts of artwork, there is artwork in the streets, and, my favorite, flowers everywhere! Really, so pretty and quaint. Serena and I decided we are moving there…
I have had such a blast with my host mom lately. Today during dinner we talked about our generation’s inability to communicate with other human beings face-to-face because of the many various forms of technology used to communicate. It was such a great conversation! And I was super proud of my ability to have a worthwhile conversation in French. After, I showed her a bunch of pictures on my computer of family/friends. She loved it!
I am off to work on a homework assignment. Serena and I are writing a song that sounds a bit sexual at first, but is actually about the joy of eating pastries. If that is any indication of how attached I am to the flaky goodness that is a pastry…
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
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