Day 12 – June 27, 2019

Grenoble

Started the blazing hot day bright and early. I sat down to breakfast with Janine and we discussed the first round of presidential debates in America. She told me that she and her partner love American politics and find them fascinating. We decided to talk more at dinner. I returned to my room to finish some linguistics homework and watched highlights from the debate when I had finished.

I decided to leave early around 10:45am for class at 12 so I would have time to catch the tram and get lunch at the university. As I rounded the first corner on my way out the door, someone called my name. I was surprised to see Jillian and Brenna eating breakfast in the café across the street. They had come from a nearby market and decided to stop on their way to class to eat. I sat down for an early lunch with them and we made it to the university with plenty of time to spare.

In class we discussed connotations of words and the different meanings within words that make them distinct from others. As the professor did individual check-ins outside the classroom, we played 20 questions in small groups to demonstrate the concepts we had been discussing. I was able to stump the group, as they were not able to guess the first female secretary of state. We ended class early to visit a local historical site. We marched across town as a group. The visit was to a church that had been a religious site for many hundreds of years. There were multiple layers of the church which were highlighted by maps and lights above. Apparently there were over 1,500 people buried there.

After class we decided we would meet Friday for dinner and to watch the US vs. France soccer game. The heat was oppressive, so we stopped by a small ice cream stand. Joyce, Tara, Ruby, and I split off from the group to explore the town. Early on in the adventure, Ruby and I got separated from the others and we continued on throughout town. We got snacks at Monoprix in a small mall and took advantage of the wonderful end of June sales before heading home.

The first course tonight consisted of a salad of shaved carrots and shredded tuna with a mustard sauce. The main dish was fresh peas, onions, ham, and potatoes. It wasn’t very pretty on the plate, but it tasted amazing. I’m continuously amazed by how good such simple things taste here. We sampled cheese and had a cup of cool apricots for dessert. Over dinner we had some great discussions. For my homework I was supposed to ask if gender creates differences in how the French language is spoken. Their consensus was that women speak much better than men, but much more softly. We discussed Gilbert’s career as a train conductor. He worked for over 30 years and always marveled at the quality of American machinery that was shipped over for the French railway system after WWII. Janine mentioned that I enjoy discussing politics and Gilbert lit up. He admitted he loves American politics and has been following them since the JFK assassination. Both Janine and Gilbert said they dislike Trump. They feel that he is rude and dangerous. They both mentioned that they felt he was destabilizing the world economy, something that made them angry and anxious.

After dinner we sat down and watched the football match between England and Norway. It was fun to watch. England won 3-0. Gilbert was surprised that the women acted so similarly to men when they scored a goal. He was excited when I told him I used to play on a soccer team.