Ma belle vie angevine!

Sorry it's been a while since I last wrote - life just comes like gusts of wind, and when you are swept away, all you can do is ride it out until you find sure footing again. So, the past two weeks have passed quite quickly, and one better than the other. The major news I have right now is that I am leaving tomorrow morning for Strasbourg (eastern France), and then I'm spending the rest of the week in Germany (Munich, Berlin, and Bremen)!!! An american friend I met here (who happens to have the same initials, the same birthday - different year, and who studies at UNC! A bit creepy, right? lol) is coming with me, and I am so excited that I will have someone on my adventures! It's been pretty interesting organizing this trip all by myself (with Mckenzie, but no adults, etc.) and I have to confess I am a bit nervous, while also definitely excited! A quick prayer now and then would be greatly appreciated!!!

Last week was full of its particular adventures, one being the stress of planning this trip (I need to relax, I know), and the other was the Valentine's Day party I attended. It was organized by a student organization in the institutes for languages, education, communication, and something else (they are called BDUs). I thought it was going to be in a night club, which would have been an interesting experience, but in actuality it was in a large room the BDU rented. Throughout the night, I could help but feel like I had stumbled upon a high school dance (with the addition of bar), and the music never ceased to amaze :) People dance to Aretha Franklin's "Think," but as soon as a song came on with more of a beat, everyone zoomed to the bar. lol Very amusing. It would have simply been an interesting social experience had I not found out at the end of the night that someone stole 20 euros and two tickets for the university restaurant out of my wallet. (I left my purse with the students of the BDU, as everyone else did...there were security guards there, etc. I thought it should be safe. Stupid, stupid Marie-Claire. Never again). It is really impossible to trace such a simple theft (I'm lucky they didn't touch my camera, phone, or credit cards!!!!) So, it happened, as it inevitably had to - the traditional theft abroad. With luck, that will be my only theft experience!

I have also been entrenching myself in some French litterature these past two weeks, and have absolutely loved it! So nice to have my assigned texts be NOVELS. I really do love litterature, so these classes have been a real pleasure. It's been a bit hectic thise week getting everything organized, and even though I have lots of time free each day, I've felt a bit pressed. I have really come to treasure the slow time I have in the afternoon to sit outside reading one of my books (it's so mild here - 50s/60s and no winter at all!), and when I get back from vacation, I am going to be sure to take advantage of these opportunities when I can!!!

Allrighty. My itenerary for the following week (February 23 to March 2):
Saturday: leave Angers at 9:37 and arrive in Strasbourg at 14:43 (with an hour in Paris - my first view of the city! Too bad I have to bussle about.)
Sunday: Strasbourg
Monday: Leave for Munich at 9:47...arrive at 14:17.
Tuesday: Munich
Wednesday: Leave Munich at 11:55 (by plane) and arrive in Berlin at 13:05
Thursday: Berlin
Friday: leave Berlin at 14:18 and arrive in Bremen at 18:06 (I'm going to visit Trevor - yay!!!) At this point, we split up and Mckenzie goes to Oldenburg, which is fairly close to Bremen - she has a friend there.)
Saturday: Bremen!
Sunday: Flight from Bremen to Paris at 18:45 - arrive in Paris at 20:15 and take the last train to Angers to end a crazy wonderful week!

We have made a list of the sites that interest us in each city, but we want to leave it with a degree of opennes - see what we can see, do what we can do. Even if it is a very active week, I don't want it full in a stressful, unpleasant way. So we'll see! I love and miss you all - I'll be sure to write a post as soon as I get back to let you all know 1. that I'm safe and sound and 2. all that I did!!

Love, Marie-Claire

P.S. Captions: My family in Angers - Marika (Japanese student staying for February), Joselyne (my host mother), and Alexandra (the French student renting a room), the ancient hospital of Saint-Jean/ the Jean Lurcat Museum (contemporary artist...has some very interesting tapistries!), a pretty picture of Angers from la Doutre (part of the city on the other side of la Maine - the river that cuts through and eventually joins the Loire), some of my friends preparing some Sunday dinner cooking (we had a get potluck sort of dinner two sundays ago), and finally Bouchmaine, a little village just outside of Angers with a walkway beside la Maine (Joselyne and I took a Sunday stroll ^_^)

P.P.S. I will be pretty much unreachable this week - no cell phone, since I don't have a German SIM card (although I am taking it just in case, don't worry!), and no internet really (and I'm not taking my laptop - my tangent would get way too stressed out, poor dear.)