The Russians have invaded France

Last night was exactly what I needed. As most of you might know already, I eat salmon at least 4 times a week. I even made tallies and yes, the average is 4-5 times a week. On Wednesday and Thursday this past week I ate sardines. Which are cooked with all the scales on..and the little eyeballs that stick out. Needless to say, I've had quite the stomach problems because I am having a hard time forcing myself to eat fish every night.

Anyway, Thao said he wanted to take me out to dinner last night so I could have a meal where I didn't need to immediately run to the bathroom afterwards, so he, a guy named Andrew in the group, and I went to a little cafe that is completely run by a Venezuelan woman. There was a dinner special going on where you would get a glass of sangria and then a little dinner plate. She reminded me a lot of Mom, haha. The short dark hair, about the same height, same smile. She talked our ears off, but in a good way. She even introduced me to her little dog, named Mitch, and told me to come back whenever I want to play with him. The sad part is, I think I will come back and play with him because I am going through Clover withdrawals! I realized that I really appreciate this aspect of French culture--going into little family-owned cafes, and sitting down and getting to know and talk with the owner while being served delicious home cooked meals. I mean, we have great restaurants at home, but it's so much different to go eat at some little cafe and to socialize and get to know the owner.

After my delicious non-fish meal, the three of us headed over to a pool hall. Yay! I haven't been able to play pool in forever! It was actually an organized event through the Institute by a woman named Farida (she's about Thao's age and is in charge of students events, excursions, social activities, etc) but there were only about 8 of us there. Thao, Andrew, me, a guy named Christos from Greece, and....RUSSIANS. I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to start speaking to them in Russian, because quite honestly I am REALLY rusty even more so now because all my thoughts are in French and I've put my Russian in a back corner until I go back to State....but I took a deep breath and just plunged into it. I asked two of the girls what their names were (Kak vas zovout?) and their eyes opened wide and they got really excited and said, "You're from Russia?!!" And started speaking rapid fire Russian to me, and I said, "Njet, Njet!! I've only been studying it for 2 years at my university!" But they insisted that I spoke it well and had a good accent, which made me feel good about myself. Also makes me want to go study in Russia all the more... :)

Thao and I also had a really good conversation while we were playing pool. I was talking to him about how I feel like I have hit a wall with my French and am not progressing as much as I wanted to during this trip. It is kind of hard to speak French all the time, because even when I meet other foreigners from non-english speaking countries, they tend to know English much better than French and therefore want to speak English with me, or the others in our group. English is definitely, and sometimes unfortunately, the unifying language at the Institute especially among the lower class levels. But Thao told me to just keep it up, and he thinks I have made improvements and that I just need to keep challenging myself and try and use more complex structures and bigger words.

We also talked a lot about his own personal allegiance with France vs the States which is what I found the most interesting. I was telling him that I loved speaking French and I really like being here, but mostly just to meet new people and talk to them..but that I don't think I could ever live here or work here. He told me that he much prefers his life in the States, and that while France is where he was raised and he loves a lot of things about France (certain ways of thinking, the food, etc) he said that his appreciation for America really hit him the moment he was standing in the US embassy. He had to do some paper work or something regarding a visa, but he said when he was standing there, looking at the flag, that he got shivers down his spine. I was really surprised that he felt that inspired by our country. He said he really respects the mentality of Americans, his words were "Americans always have to be accountable." I definitely agree with him on that point. The French never accept blame, or fault, and are always complaining about different things and blaming it on everything else--even the simplest thing (for example, my host mom once knocked off a glass from the table and it broke, but instead of saying "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, "What was that doing there in the first place?") Thao further went on by saying that our country truly does award opportunities for those who are willing to work hard and sacrifice--definitely the American Dream. In France, the government is so bureaucratic and there is always red tape everywhere, it makes it impossible to get things done and you have to have connections and know a lot of people to get any sort of decent position for a job, etc. But it's not necessarily all about connections in the States; networking helps, but hard work and perseverance are more important.

I felt this way about France the last time I came here even though only for 9 days, and I feel it even more now that I've been here for a good amount of time. If anything, my own patriotism grows when I am in France and I appreciate more and more what I have at home. There are certain cultural aspects that I love about France and that now I can guard with me in my own personality, and way of thinking, but it makes me feel very blessed and appreciative of everything we have in the States. Kind of like being raised with some Polish culture too---I love the food, the family ties, and values that I've been brought up with. :) just had to throw that in there as well.

What I'm getting at in a very inarticulate way is that diveristy is beautiful, and cultures are something to be protected. With diversity, you can pick and choose exactly what you like from cultures, what things work and what things don't exactly work, and you have such a more enriched way of life and thought process. I mean, whole concepts that exist in one language don't exist in other languages because there is no corresponding word for translation. It's just really fascinating to be experiencing this, to be growing and maturing in my own set of values, and to be learning about the lives of people from all corners of the world. All of us human beings, all of us who no matter what have the same essential desires for life and happiness.

We finished playing pool and then went to a bar with my new Russian friends. They seem to think that I speak more Russian than I actually do. But I guess its good practice, right? Oi! Thao kept asking me about Matt, and he told me that I need to make him learn French. He said that if I were to bring him here even one time, then he would want to learn it. Is that going to be true? Haha.

Today I am invited to go eat dinner at Lindsey's house (yay! normal food 2 nights in a row!) and I'm working on a paper about French slang for my professor. That's a subject entirely on its own.