Toussaints Vacation!!

Hello all! France is still lovely. I'm sorry that I haven't written in a couple of weeks, but all is well here in L'Hexagone. Since October 24, I haven't done much in the way of traveling. I've mostly been just studying and exploring Nantes a little more. Last week was All Saints holiday for Les Français, and for some it is continuing into this week as well. Some of you may remember that Halloween has its origin in "All Hallows Eve," so in France the night of Halloween marks the beginning of each year's several-days-long celebration of all who were "Hallowed" or holy..saints! It is a Catholic tradition that not very many people recognize in the United States. Last week we didn't have classes at IES or the University of Nantes. Vacation!! My parents and my aunt came to see me last Tuesday. We rented a car and headed to a small town outside of Nantes called Le Pallet. There we stayed at a little chateau/vinyard called Le Chateau de la Sebiniere, where a very French man named Vincent took very good care of us. Really, it was just a two-story bed-and-breakfast in the country. It was just what I needed! Living in the city, which is something that I'm not really accustomed to for long periods of time, has a tendency to make me feel really "walled-in." I live in the IES center, on the 4th floor, and though that has its advantages as far a not needing to commute goes, I don't have much reason to leave the building. I do take four classes out of six outside of IES, but when I'm not at the Univeristy or the Ecole des Beaux Arts for my painting class, I'm in the IES building. By the end of the week, I really begin to crave open space. At Le Chateau de la Sebiniere, I was able to get my dose of fresh air...and there were dogs! Monsieur Obie (and the "Monsieur" was absolutely necessary, if I didn't call him by his proper name he would simply ignore me) and Ogre, yes the owners of la Sebiniere named one of their dogs after a very nasty fictional creature, were there to play with me. My parents, thank goodness, actually got some rest. We took little afternoon trips to Angers to visit some of my aunt's French friends and to Clisson to show Mom and Dad the castle and the Italian Garenne Lemot house. Unfortunately, because of the holiday, we weren't able to visit the castle or the famous tapestries in Angers. Hopefully I'll get back to see them before I leave.

On Saturday night, we drove back into Nantes to have dinner at La Cigale, the most celebrated restaurant in Nantes, with my host family. It was a little taxing to play translator for two and a half hours, but for the most part, parents seem to understand each other, even when they are from different countries, speaking different languages. I think that there is just something universal in the love that parents have for their children, and sometimes understanding that goes farther than words ever could. Let me explain. My parents explained how much they appreciated my host family for taking care of me, and of course I was trying to translate all that they were saying into French for my host family. Well, my host mother held up her hand, and, a little tearful, said (in French) "That's ok Jordan, I understand completely. You don't need to translate that. I understand." Humanity is truly a language of its own. I would have to say that dinner at the Cigale with both of my families is one of the neatest experiences that I've ever had.

My parents left on Sunday, and I'll admit that I was a little sad to see them leave. However, I guess I have grown a little since I've been here, and I am more comfortable with the idea of being on my own. Being physically separated from my family, my friends, my homeland has really taught me to appreciate more the comfort of being surrounded by them, but I know now that I can survive without them there all the time. I guess that one part of growing up, as cliché as all of this sounds, is about learning how to build one's own support networks when the ones that were there from the beginning aren't directly available. I only have six more weeks left anyway...If it were six years perhaps I'd be less sure of myself.

So, this week has been a little unusual. There is yet another strike going on here in Nantes, and it is directly affecting my life as a student in this city. The students associated with the Humanities departments at the University of Nantes have decided to take political action against another decision made by President Sarkozy (who was actually in the US this week visiting President Bush). Basically, Sarkozy is trying to decentralize education enough to allow individual universities to decide where funds will be directed and what classes/credits to offer. The problem, as I understand it, is that some universities are more funded than others, and some students, dissaproving of the idea that their tuition might be raised from 200 euros to perhaps 250 euros (or something like that), believe that education should be free alltogether. So, they have blocked all of the classrooms at the univeristy with piles of desks and chairs, and the president of the University of Nantes has canceled classes for the rest of this week in the Humanities departments (not for the Science/Math department...the students aren't striking there). If the students continue to strike, we may not have classes at all next week too. Thankfully though, the IES director has moved all of our exam locations to the IES building. Whew!

I hope everyone is doing great!
~Jordan Rawl

Comments

[Lizzie Dilworth]

Jordan-
I have really enjoyed reading your posts! I am going to Nantes next semester, and it really helps to read about your adventures and experiences over there. I hope everything is still going great!

Lizzie