This week I had my first encounter with the French Health Care system. After finally being convinced that I needed to go to the doctor I went and was told that I have bronchitis. So I was given 4 different prescriptions that have all helped so far. However, I think I now have a cold, which makes me wonder if I am going to be perpetually sick in France, which would not be fun (although the doctor was quite nice).
Also, I moved down to a different level this week and I am loving it. The teacher is really nice and animated and which makes me actually want to go to class and as a bonus this level has no Friday class so I have long weekends every weekend.
On Friday, Victor took 4 of us into one of the mountain ranges near Grenoble where we saw a church and a monastery. The church was amazing. On the outside it looked like a normal church in a little French village, but inside it was filled with modern art. The whole church was done completely by one artist and it took him over 30 years. All of the stain glass, the sculptures, and paintings were done by him and it was his own personal take on the Bible. It was really fascinating.
The monastery was really cool too. Since it was a monastery we were not allowed in, but after a little hike up a hill (in the snow) we were able to see a little bit inside of the wall surrounding it. According to Victor, Pope John Paul II really liked going there. These monks make their living by distilling this liqueur called Chartreuse. It takes upward of 130 different herbs to make it and only two monks in the order know the recipe at any given time. Victor bought us a little bottle of it and it sure helped with my cough. It is said to help extend a persons life but I was not so much a fan of it.
Last night, my friend Cat's host sister was throwing a party at her house because her parents were going to be away (don't worry, the parents knew about the party). It was interesting to how different French parties are from American parties. It was definitely a cultural experience. Everyone tried to practice their English on us and they were all surprised that we were in France to learn French (which didn't make sense to me at all).
That was pretty much it for this week. Hopefully my posts will become more regular when I am not as sick.
3 comments:
what was the party like? what made it so different from american parties?
well for one thing that made a big difference was that the guys were dancing and not just with girls but with each other and just having fun. i don't know about you, but i have never seen that at an american party. also, it was also a more "grown up" party so there were only people in their mid-late 20s, which could have made all of the difference in the world.
i wish that you were here because my weekend has been miserable. i basically spent my saturday night crying. in my bed. all alone.
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