Out and About

Since I know there are a quite a few aspects of my life here in Nantes that I haven't filled you guys in on yet, here's an overview of my typical day up to this point:

*wake up at 7-8 AM. Even if I don't have any classes or events until later in the day, the sounds of everyone else in the house starting their mornings usually keeps me from sleeping in. Since my room is on the ground floor, and the girls and their parents live on the top two floors, I wake to the sounds of dishes, stomping, and showers every morning.

*eat breakfast. Which usually consists of tea, juice, jam, butter, and honey, with my choice of brioche, crêpes, or pain (like from a baguette). By this time everyone's off to work or school, and Elie, my homestay dad pokes his head in the kitchen to make sure all the food's laid out for me before he goes to take a patient. (He's a podiatrist and works out of the home. His office and examining room are right next to my bedroom.)

*walk to the tram stop. then take the tram south for about 10 minutes to the centre-ville, connect with a tram headed west a little ways, and then walk the remainder of the way to the IES Centre. It takes me around 20-25 minutes from the time I step outside the house to when I reach Rue des Cadeniers. Not too bad a commute, and I'm learning shortcuts all the time.

*attend classes at IES intermittently. And make myself a regular old sandwich for lunch in the Centre's kitchen. Almost all of my classes and activities are separated by about an hour or so. Some days, I only have one class. This leaves me time to run errands, walk around with friends, and explore the town.

*start home by 6:30 PM. People on the tram are often more lively around this hour. I walk fast.

*have dinner with my homestay family around 7:30-8PM. The mom straggles in shortly after I do, and then we all hustle to the kitchen table. Dinner is simple and often lacks meat. We have one main dish with bread, then a round of cheese (almost always exceptionally potent), and a dessert of fruit, yogurt/cheese (more on that later), or ice cream. It's pleasant and filling.

*attempt to socialize with homestay family. All of whom are tired or preoccupied with other things by this point. For 30 minutes to an 1 hour every night though, I watch the news with my homestay parents while they wait for the weather forecast. Some times we watch parts of movies, until we realize that we're all mostly asleep.

*stumble to bed at 10PM. Or work on some minor homework, the only kind I've had so far.

And sleep! Thankfully, I've getting plenty of that lately.

This schedule isn't terribly exciting, but it's an interesting change of pace from the constant barrage of work and activities I have at AC. My university classes and clubs are starting tomorrow, and my teaching internship begins next week, so those should kick my schedule up a couple of notches. And on the weekends, I search for exciting action across Nantes !

I've posted a bunch more pictures of Nantes and its going-ons. If you'd like to see them click on one of the two albums on the right under 'Snapshots of My Semester'.