En Plein Air

This saturday morning I found another reason to love France. Every Saturday morning, in TWO places in Angers, there are farmers' markets. Now, when I say farmers' market- I'm not talking about the little collection of stalls in a parking lot that will happen twice a week in Ypsi during the warmer months. No, here in Angers you can buy mattresses, shoes, toys, underwear, lingerie, watches, home goods, cds, unitards, fresh cut flowers, potted plants EN PLUS there's food- fresh baked bread, fresh sea food, skinned rabbits, pickled goods, any vegetable you could want, imported fruit from Spain and Monaco, home made jams, the list goes on... There's really no reason to go to any stores. Just wait for Saturday.

The market was FREEZING cold. It had snowed overnight and traces of snow were still lingering on the sidewalks. Snow doesn't stick here, it melts- but then the air is damp and soon the cold soaks in through your coat and shoes and you're chilled to the bone. We looked around for a good hour until none of us could feel our fingers or toes...

Later that night we had a crèpe making party to celebrate the fact that Nolan's host family is gone for the week. We watched the Olympics, ate crèpes, played cards and savoured the feeling we used to take for granted: hanging out at night with your friends.

All the friends I've made through this exchange program are living in host family situations like I am. Its great for learning the french culture and speaking the language- however, its a little like living with your grandparents. In order to be respectful guests, its expected that we don't make too much noise, invite too many people over for too long etc. As a ramification we all spend a lot of nights alone in our rooms, not making too much noise and trying not to feel too bored or lonely. Going out is always an option- but the cost adds up and none of us here can afford to spend 5 euro each night on top of other expenses. In short, we're all a little socially deprived and a night in the kindred company of college students was well appreciated.