Is there anything more wonderful than listening to the rain outside while curled up with a good book? After these last few weeks of a strangely warm September, fall has moved in swiftly. It has been cold and rainy here for the last few days, which I’m told is much more keeping with the usual season. I’m enjoying the change- I finally get to wear sweaters and use my umbrella during the fall, since in Davis summer always seemed to drop off abruptly into a gray winter without anytime in between. However, I’m still waiting to see if the leaves with change colors. Since there aren’t any Maples here, there may not be the same fireworks as fall in the Pacific Northwest, despite the similarities of climate. (There are lots of Sycamores here, however, and I enjoy seeing them surrounded by such a lush environment since I’m used to thinking of them as trees that grow in more arid climates.)
On Friday night after rugby practice I was able to stay for the dinner that the rugby club prepared on Friday nights. It was a good meal, and it was really enjoyable to spend time with the team outside of practice. The girls range in age from 15 to 25 and in person they lack all the aggression that they show on the field. Since the practices are in Bourges on Wednesday nights and St Florent (which is even farther from St Doulchard than Bourges) on Friday nights, I usually don’t stay for the dinner since I get I ride home from one of the women who help organize the team’s affairs. This Friday, however, both she and I stayed until nearly 11:30- which wouldn’t have been late if I didn’t have class on Saturday morning.
After class on Saturday, I came home to a lunch celebrating the birthday of Coralie, Laurie’s sister who lives in Bourges. Saturday night, I went with Louison, a the French teenager who spent last year in Peru with Rotary, and Dora who is the Icelandic exchange student at my lycée to the Bourges Ecological Film Festival. We arrived about an hour early by accident, but the docent let us into the award ceremony, which was by technically invitation only, for the different documentaries. After the ceremony there was free dessert, so everything worked out pretty. The films we had some to see didn’t start until late so I admit that I may have slept through the first one, which was about contaminants in drinking water. The second film, however, was a very interesting documentary about oil spills in Nigerian marshes.
This morning I was up early once again, since Louison and Dora had invited me to accompany them on a countryside “marche” or walk which their families were involved with planning for a local elementary school. Our job was to help lead three ponies which the kids took turns riding. While it was lovely to get outside for a walk, it was to my dismay that I realized “marche” could also translate to “three miles through the countryside in the rain”. If I had known I would have worn something besides my converse! But despite the weather I made the acquaintance of Donald, a little devil of a pony for wanting to stop and nibble, and numerous six-year-olds who were happily tramping through the mud and asking for another turn. We stopped by a small family farm where the kids petted calves and saw cows, pigs, rabbits, chickens and two donkeys who, to the adults’ amusement and the kids’ confusion, decided to put on a rather age-inappropriate display in the middle of the field. It was about then that most of the students were whisked away for fresh picked apples and brioche.
Tonight I plan to spend at home with some homework and a good book (I recommend La Maison de Papier by Françoise Mallet-Joris if you can find an English translation) since I have to leave early for Orléans tomorrow. Unfortunately it’s not going to be a sight-seeing trip, rather since I’m technically an immigrant for the year, I have to complete paperwork and have an official medical exam at the Office of Immigration, which is located in Orléans. At least I’ll get to miss school tomorrow (though I’d rather be at school with my friends than jumping through hoops for my visa). I’ve heard from other students that it’s not a difficult trip, just a technicality, but I’ll let you know how it goes.
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