Grenoble
It was listening lab day in my grammar course this morning. We listened to and analyzed some French slam poems about race and religion. The French really do not have a multicultural society they way we do in America. They believe that citizens are French first and their individual identities are less important than identifying as French. We talked about tensions between the Muslim and Jewish communities in France, as well.
After going over some more vocab in the visual art class we got to preform little skits with a partner based on a painting. Jillian and I did a skit on American Gothic. It was really fun. I acted out the part of the husband who wanted to watch the wheat grow and she was the angry wife who let the pigs escape.
After class we had all planned to go to a restaurant near my place called Ferme à Dede, which is known for good French cuisine. I was really excited to go because I pass it every day and think about eating there. However, there ended up being a lot of confusion due to changing plans for the week. Brenna and I went, Hayden and Jamie followed later on. I went with the plat du jour, which was roast duck with peppers and a salad. It was pretty good, but I was a little disappointed after all the hype that the restaurant had received.
We sprinted across town, got our project approved by our professor, and then decided it was time for some ice cream. I got a new flavor and loved it. I have no clue what it is called, because it was in Italian.
As we were eating we wandered over to the nearby jardin de ville where some of our classmates were working and hanging out. I ended up sitting and chatting for over an hour. We talked about life on UM’s campus, problems with race in our high schools, and religious intolerance in the US. It was nice to have a chance to share my experiences with my host family with other students and to hear about their experiences. It is hard to believe the program is nearing its end.
We started with bread dipped in fried eggs. Janine was surprised to hear that Americans eat eggs for breakfast because she considers them “too heavy.” I told her that a lot of Americans like to have something sweet for breakfast like pancakes or cereal. We ended up spending most of the dinner talking about eating habits in France and America and how they differed. Essentially, my host parents felt that Americans eat too much meat and sugar leading to higher rates of diabetes. They were worried because a lot of younger French and Japanese people are apparently adopting more American eating habits and gaining a lot of weight. They explained that that was why the French government started putting health warnings on foods with added fats and sugars. For our second plate we had green beans with fried potatoes. Our conversation moved on to healthcare in the US. They told me that in France there is beginning to be a shortage of doctors because too many are retiring and not being replaced. I said that in the US our healthcare system also needed to be updated. Gilbert was really curious about how people paid for medical attention. He was shocked to hear that people paid for it themselves and sometimes loose their homes because of debt incurred by expensive surgeries. I explained that the country is really divided on the issue of whether or not we want socialized health programs and they seemed amazed that there was even a question. We continued our meal with bread and cheese while they chattered about the benefits they had received through their health system.
Mary-Est-En-France 