Morning update before Poland travel

I went to the doctor this morning, and he said he doesn't think that my headaches are serious and that I can still go to Poland! (The generalist I saw and Madame Rochet advised me against traveling while I had these headaches). I had some blood drawn, and they're going to give me the results this afternoon before I leave, but it sounds like I will still be able to travel! Also, today, in the two hours that I've been awake I've seen: (1) A parade of 20 national french police trucks (2)The cutest house that I've seen in Nantes so far (3) three pieces of pumpkin cake (4) the pretty trees along the Erdre river that are all changing colors (5) (smelled this one) burn piles (6) (heard this one) Bob Dylan (which reminds me, if you ever want to go on a roadtrip on Highway 61 this summer, let me know) (7) a fat little dog that looked like a chubby version of Lucy, my friend Alanna's dog. So great day so far.

One of the best foods in France

I have recently fallen in love with rice pudding. For some reason, it is SO GOOD in France. I had never really had rice pudding too much in the United States. When I was working on the farm this summer, my boss Mari made it one night from the leftover rice from dinner. It was really good when she made it, but it wasn't as amazing as Monoprix grocery store brand vanilla rice pudding.

Anyway, today I had a lit class at IES. After it ended, I rushed upstairs to the kitchen to eat some rice pudding before going home. And guess what? Another girl from my lit class had also rushed up to the kitchen to eat some rice pudding before going home. We had both gone upstairs to the kitchen because of the lure of this great food. So we both ate our delicious cheap grocery store pudding, talked about how scrumptious it was, and then went home. It was lovely.

I also love Joni Mitchell.
The night is a starry dome.

Des devoirs

I have quite a bit more homework than I thought I would have here. Today was okay, but my headaches kind of made it hard to focus and to enjoy everything. I did have a nice walk home with Olivia though, who gave me lots of hugs and wishes that my headaches stop. Plus, we talked about our plans to travel Europe together like gypsies, to find cool presents for people, and to have a Skype conversation on her birthday so all of us Whitties who will be abroad can celebrate with her. It was also just a lovely night in Nantes--not too cold, nice stars, and lights reflecting off the river.

A song I'm listening to while studying:

Goodnight Moon

I'm going to bed. I have been having really bad headaches lately, so I'm trying extra hard to get enough sleep every night. Maybe that will help.

Yesterday I peeled chestnuts with my host family and had lunch with Jaspreet and Olivia before Jaspreet had to catch her train back to Paris. I've also decided to run a half marathon in June in Port Angeles, Washington. I'm so excited for it! It's going to be so pretty, and the race has gotten really great reviews. http://www.nodm.com/

Today was really nice though. Disregarding the headaches. My bed was very comfortable this morning. It was sunny and not too cold. My host family put a little plate underneath the pumpkin that I carved. My oldest host sister who normally lives in London is here for a few days, and she is really funny. We had a delicious dinner since she arrived today. Dani told me funny stories about Futuroscope, a movie/amusement park she went to with her host family over the weekend. I saw my mom and dad on skype. I'm making sure everything is in order for my trip to Poland. I listened to Joe Purdy.



Thanks for reading and checking my blog, even though I am not really got at updating it or talking about everything that's going on. If you are reading this, I probably miss you and love you so much!

Milk, Feathers, Mussles, Econ, and Igloos

Hey everyone!
Just a quick note, because it is about 3 in the morning here, so I should get to bed.
Where do I even start? I have so much that I still need to write in here. I still really need to write about Paris, Mont St Michel and St Malo, and Normandie. Right now, though, I will write about my weekend and Nantes in general.

So, I feel like there are a few things that I have noticed happen quite often in France, including during this past week/week-end. They are:

1. Manifestations! Since I have been here, there has been one strike and two manifestations that I know of, but there could likely have been more. The post office was on strike for a day to protest a law that will make it possible that the post will become a private institution. That didn't last long though. Regarding manifestations, I saw one two weeks ago. I'm not sure what it was about, but they cut the tram line because of it and I had to walk into town. But! None of these are as exciting as the farmer's protest a few days ago! So, you may have heard about this, but many farmers in France have been striking recently. At first it was the dairy farmers who, the weekend before my friends and I went to Mont St Michel, poured tons of milk over the mount. They have also gone into stores and handed out cheese and milk for free--all of this to protest the small amount of money that goes to dairy farmers when their products are sold, among other things. Then, last week, more farmers--including wheat, pig, and other farmers of all different products--protested all over France--in Paris, Normandie, and--among other cities--Nantes. Once again all the tram lines were cut. This time because hundreds of tractors were in the city streets and were blocking tram lines. Farmers were lighting
hay on fire, firing a machine that makes the sound of a cannon to scare birds out of fields, and had even brought and tired up a cow and a bull, who was not enthralled about being tied up in Nantes. These farmers, like the dairy farmers, were demanding a raise in their revenue and an urgent plan to help french farmers. (Photos by Dani Witt).

2. Great food! This past weekend Olivia, a boy who used to go to Whitman named Will, and I ate lunch at Flo's house. For those of you who don't know, Florian is a grad student in Nantes who lived in the French House at Whitman last year and is now back in Nantes and lives in an apartment near Olivia's homestay. Flo's parents and two brothers were all incredibly nice and welcoming and we had a delicious, filling dinner with several courses: (1) apertifs and carrots with cheese (2) the most amazing mussles I have ever eaten (well, actually, the only mussles I have ever eaten, but still, they were delicious) (3) chicken, couscous, and ratatouille (which was also delicious, even though I was already completely full from the muscles) (4) cheese (including one of my favorites, comté) (5) chocolate cake and crème anglaise and finally (6) coffee and tea. It was all very good, and I was full for the rest of the day.

3. Weekend Markets
4. Tests
5. Long Walks

I will update this post soon and add more to this list, but I really need to get to bed.

One thing though, I'm thinking I'm going to go to Finland to see the Northern Lights, sleep in a glass igloo (that's really warm inside and in which you can see the Northern lights and stars), go dog mushing, do some snowshoeing, go snowmobiling, do some ice fishing, sled a bit, spend some time in suanas, and go to reindeer farm, among other things. I'm really excited! But, this is something I just thought of doing in the past hour or so, and I haven't thought through any of the logical/reasoning/planning/funding parts of it yet, so we'll see if this happens. But for now, I'm really excited about the possibility.

Now there's a new post for you Flo!

Today I had a wonderful lunch at Flo's house with his family, Olivia, and someone who used to go to Whitman. Then, during a midterm study break, I wrote a blog post because Flo checks my blog often but there is rarely anything new.

I will try to update this more soon...but I always say that, so I hope it will happen this time.