Cultural Crossroads

1 April 2011

            Tuesday

            Today we hosted the Journée Internationale and it went off without a hitch.  Everyone LOVED our Swing dancing lessons and my friend Jordan and I even got invited to go “Rock n’ Roll” dancing with some French guys.  Apparently, every Wednesday night, there is “Rock n’ Roll” dancing in the auditorium of the Engineering department on campus from 8-10 PM. 

Our U.S.A. table at the Journée Internationale =)

            Wednesday

            Today, Jordan and I went to the “Rock n’ Roll” dancing at school.  Our friends were there and we had an absolute blast.  It was good, clean fun.  I danced mostly with our friend Quentin, who is just as clumsy as I am on the dance floor.  Needless to say, we required a bit of instruction, and we stepped on each others’ toes SEVERAL times during the course of the night.  Regardless of our lack of coordination, by the end of the evening, we had developed an almost flawless routine, which we proudly showed to Matieu and Jordan.  After the dancing, the boys walked us home and told us they hoped to see us next week.  It was so nice to just go out dancing with some friends.  The best part is (Dr. Mann-Morlet) that we spoke French the ENTIRE TIME.  We are DEFINITELY going next Wednesday!

            

            Thursday

            Each week, the aumônerie (chaplain’s office) has a mass, dinner and discussion on Thursday nights that I have been going to since I got to Angers.  Each week, they ask a different student to prepare the meal for the group and this week, it was my turn.  So, the girls and I prepared good, old fashioned, southern cuisine for the students at the aumônerie.  This meant, of course, that every dish ended in the word “casserole” and contained LOTS of butter.  I was worried about whether the students would like the food or not, but luckily, it was a hit!  They absolutely LOVED it!  Several of them even asked me for the recipe =)

Our Banana pudding =)

            So, after we fed everyone, there wasn't enough for us to go and eat, so we decided to go to our friendly neighborhood McDonner (a local kebab place run by an Frenchman, a Morocan man and an Indian man--don't ask).  They love me SOOOOO much that they made me a grilled cheese =)

Needless to say, it has been a VERY successful week of cultural exchange here in Angers and I am super excited for the rest of my semester.