the next few weeks

I had the good luck to get a nice person at the train station yesterday who helped me get my trip through the south all planned out. I have tickets for Tour, the closest station to the castle (Chateau Veuil) where my friend Drew is working, and where I'll be working later in August; from there I go to Toulouse for 2 days - apparently it's kind of a ghost town right now because everyone's on vacation further south - then all the way over to Lyon for 4 days, back down to Marseilles for a few and finally to Nice to stay in a "trailer park" near the beach. Should be quite the adventure. I found people to host me in each location through couchsurfing.com. Each place I'm staying has its attractions, the guy in Lyon is a couchsurfing.com embassador - to find out what that means, check out the website - the girl in Marseilles lives right on the beach, the guy in Nice is a huge partier, so that should be interesting...
Yesterday I started to feel like I wanted to head home early, but I think it was just because I've been tired and fighting off a cold. It would be a total waste to leave now. I don't know when I'll have another opportunity to travel and work in France for three weeks again. I hope that I will, but who knows? My host mom and her family have offered me a place to stay if and/when I return to France, so I guess it's possible...

I had to let go of the idea that I would be astronomically better at speaking French before I finished this program. I am certain that I have improved, but I think I won't be skipping a level at SOU. The classes here aren't intensive, just immersive. There are many verb tenses yet to learn, and what we did learn was entirely n French, which is limiting in that, I think I've missed some of the nuances of the usage explications. Ça va. But, I will say that my comprehension is much better, written and oral. Last night we were all out at the best bar in town - The Abbey, very San Francisco-like - and I carried on intelligible conversations in French over the din of music and people. That is definitely progress. We made an impromptu dance party there. Best night out so far.
I can't remember if I've written this already, but I'll say it again: being in France is a completely different experience when you speak French. Even as rudimentarily (is that a word?) as I do. I can actually get past the stoic French façade and get to know some people. They're really nice once you get past that. I've heard from many of the people here that Americans appear to them to be disingenuous. Because we are open and friendly with everyone, they assume that it's not sincere. They, on the other hand, as a culture, do not give their emotional energy to someone unless they see a reason. Knowing this changed my experience of being here. I think part of assimilating here is being sensitive to that particular dynamic.
Tomorrow is a big international soirée for the last day of the program. Doiing a Charleston number with some girls for it. It's an American dance after all...The large group of Spaniards is at the other end of the hall as I type, rehearsing their songs. They are highly amusing.
The photos are of a group of us at a bar here in town and a pic of me in Carnac with some 3-4 thousand-year-old stones, like Stonehenge...except most of them are smaller stones and there are tons and tons of them in rows throughout the town.
A little side note: after Saturday, I don't know what my internet access is going to be like, so I may be out of touch for the next few weeks. I'll try to post when I can...