Je Deviens Bordelaise

Update: I am still in Bordeaux.

I had an urge to blog tonight, but it doesn't feel as though there is much else to report! Life here is slow and easy, and on days where group activities aren't planned, I simply wander around the city with friends, go for a run in the Parc Bordais, or sit and read a book somewhere. And while I love and appreciate the leisure time, I can't help but look forward to Paris, where I expect to return to the busy lifestyle which I so prefer. I don't quite understand myself, but as my college self has become stronger and stronger, I dislike free time more and more. It isn't that I don't like to have fun (I think), but activities without a purpose, some foreseeable goal, make me feel like I'm wasting time. It does me well to remind myself that while I'm here, free time serves its purpose - a different kind of education meant to help me integrate myself into a new culture. But, since I've had all of this free time, I've had plenty of time to make some observations. In accordance with that, here is an entry entirely devoted to Les Observations Bordelaise!

Food: Oh. Oh, my. What a feat French cuisine is. I've never looked forward to meal time as much as I do here. The French, as most European countries, do not eat a heavy breakfast. Every morning, I'm treated to some toast with delicious confiture aux framboises-rhubarbe (rasberry-rhubarb jam) and a large cup of café au lait. Lunch is generally a baguette and camembert cheese, although once and a while my friends and I will splurge and go to an artisan boulangerie pâtisserie and buy some quiche with goat cheese and spinach and une tarte aux pommes (kind of like a small apple pie). Everything is always delicious, even when buying food from the local corner market. Dinners in Bordeaux are courtesy of my host family, which, let me tell you, is lucky for me. Catherine, my host mother, is an amazing cook, and never ceases to amaze me with her incredible dishes. Each dinner starts with an "entrée", which is either a salad, soup, or maybe some cantaloupe (my arch-nemesis has returned in several meals), and après ça, we are served the "plat", or the main course. Every night, I've been given an amazing meal full of a variety of vegetables, delicious meats, cheese, and spices, and I've seen everything to stuffed tomatoes to omelettes to a mild (yet delicious) shrimp and mushroom curry. Seriously, I've never been so well fed in my life, but the food is light enough that it doesn't make me feel overly-full, even after several helpings and several courses. We end dinner with fruit and cheese for dessert - the french are very proud of their produce (as they should be, as nearly everything is local or from a nearby European country).

Drink: I seldom drank wine in the United States, save for a Thanksgiving dinner here or there. It was never something I actively sought out because it was too bitter, or it burned my mouth, and I tended to drink it as quickly as possible so that I could avoid the taste. I expected to have my mind changed immediately upon arriving in Bordeaux, but to my surprise, my host family doesn't drink much wine with dinner. Instead, they opt for water, which normally I'd be ecstatic over, expect that French water is desalinated (they use ocean water), which leaves it tasting dry and smelling like minerals. I'm slowly getting used to it, but it's another one of those things

that I drink quickly to avoid the taste - yes, I am an immature child. Last week, though, I was given the chance to grow up a little bit, and show off my sophisticated side. My program took a trip to L'École du Vin (Wine School) and were taught the basics of appreciating french wine. We learned the difference in attributes between white and red wines, sauvignons and chardonnays, and what is best paired with them. Something I found interesting: in France, and specifically in Bordeaux, each region is known for specializing in one specific type of wine, which the French know well enough to select wines not only based on the type they are looking for, but where it is made to achieve the best quality of wine possible. We got to taste several wines made in Bordeaux, and were taught to look for clarity and to be able to see the age of the wine based on its color, and thus, when the wine is at its prime. From the tasting, I deduced that my favorite type of wine is Sauvignon Blanc, I really dislike sweet wines, and I can tolerate red wine. Look out, everyone, I'm getting cultured! Or maybe the word I'm looking for is "drunk". Sorry, Mom and Dad.

La dégustation était vraiment plaisant au goût!

La Vie Quotidienne: "Everyday Life". I've spent so much time over the past week and a half sitting and eating. Really. There's the occasional jog or yoga session, but in general, we just go to Le Jardin Public, Le Parc Bordelais, or Le Palais Galienne and spend our two and a half hour lunch break between class and atelier (which is basically class but they call it an "activity" based around food, literature, film, or politics) lazing around and

enjoying each others company. The weather is generally perfect for that kind of thing, sunny and warm but not too hot (although one day we experienced hurricane winds and paid the price for deciding it was a nice day to be outside. There were giant pine needles flying into our faces at a pace of 20 mph, which is really quite painful). There is quite a lot of walking and biking in Bordeaux (my host mother says that using a car to get anywhere is "forbidden"), although you'll rarely see a jogger, and people here "really care about the environment" and never waste a single morcel of food, although recycling bins are few and far between. It is a city of contradictions, having one ideology but doing another... but no place can be perfect, I suppose. They're miles ahead of the US in terms of having the right mindset about transportation and the environment, but they seem to have implemented those ideas incorrectly. I fear piping up about my feelings on subjects like recylcing, though. No one wants to be the idealistic American who tries to shove their views on a generous host city. In either case, I can feel my French improving during every day conversation, and there have been moments of fluency amongst my incoherent babble. In general, I am not quite (read: not at all) ready to survive on my own. I depend upon my host families and teachers to speak simply to me, and I depend upon simple phrases to respond... but reading and understanding has become much easier, so I must be getting somewhere! In conclusion, the everyday life is one of leisure - something that is, sadly, foreign to me. It's been the biggest part of the "culture shock" (but I mean, really, how much culture shock could an American have in Western Europe?) thus far, and I'm loving learning how to relax like the Bordelaise!

Lastly, to all of my friends starting school at Vassar right around now, I get a little bit homesick when I hear about your adventures together. I won't be starting classes in Paris until September 13, and half of my classes (at Paris III) don't begin until September 27th! It's strange to admit, but I am jealous that you're using your time learning some valuable things. Have a wonderful semester, everyone!