So I went out on Thursday with my new friends and we, true to Beth-birthday form, went out for Indian food! I overheard my new British friends talking about finding an Indian restaurant, so I figured my birthday would be a good night for trying one out. So, upon the advice of Christèle (my housemate), we checked out Surya Restaurant. When we arrived, no one was there, so we were concerned. But yes, 7:45 is apparently too early. After 8:00, the people started rolling in. We chuckled while watching two separate couples, one old and one young, assume the same positions: both arms stretched across the tables, clutching one another's hands. And their tables were beside each other, so it looked particularly funny.
So how was the food, you ask? Different. It was good, but different from other Indian food. It had flavour, but not as strong or as spicy as I think the English girls and I were looking for. It had a sweeter taste, the curries were smaller and runnier too. But we had just the right amount of food and it was good. Everything is so much more expensive here, particularly noticeable with food, but we did a good job at keeping the cost of the meal down while having a big spread.
On the topic of food, I got to accompany Christele grocery shopping yesterday so that I could pick out some things. Really the only thing that has been a bit hard is breakfast, where they tend to eat cake-type food or very chocolate-y cereal. So I picked out some nice Muesli which I had this morning...so yummy with yogurt. At the supermarket, it was interesting to see how yogurt takes up an entire aisle. So do packages of cookies (biscuit-type cookies). It has been nice to get up every morning to a fresh pot of Italian coffee (Christèle's favourite and mine too), but I'm not in the habit of drinking this much coffee. I hope I don't have withdrawal symptoms at any point. I had some pretty bad headaches last weekend, either from that or from too much sun/dehydration.
Last Sunday was a Bradérie in the downtown. Many of the streets were open only to pedestrians and it was basically like a big street flea market/clearance sale. The items for sale were very random, some as though the vender had emptied the contents of his attic. Then the shops were having street sales and there were lots of food vendors. Unfortunately, I picked the first one serving kebabs (like shawarmas) without checking out the proper food area where there was a large variety of food, including traditional food from Breton (crepes, cider, etc), Spanish paella, mussels...and what I had wasn't very good and was overpriced. Boo, I should have known better!
That morning, I attended one of the few Protestant churches in Tours (I think there are only 5). Although there is one within walking distance, I decided to go to the largest one, downtown, Eglise Evangelique de Tours. There were about 200 people there, the majority of African decent I would say. It was great! I was well-greeted and welcomed; I loved how people prayed out during the worship-time and during communion and I felt quite "stirred in my spirit" (for lack of a better expression). I knew some of the songs and the ones I didn't were easy to learn. I was even able to follow the sermon! It was interesting to me that it was based on Psalm 84 and about the House of God, since I had wavered on whether or not I was going to intentionally attend church while here. Reading the text in English, I have always interpreted it to be about living in God's presence, about spending time with God personally (like that song, Better is One Day), but hearing the pastor speak about it from the French version, I was hearing how good it is to belong to a community of believers. Isn't it interesting how easy it can be to focus on making one's faith so personal and independent, when it cannot be that alone? Even just now, doing a search for the word "dwell" in the Bible, the idea of "God dwelling within" is a communal thing! And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Yup, together. It is always a beautiful thing to observe and to even be a part of such a community in places away from home; to observe how they worship, how they share the bread and wine (or grape juice...here, it was wine :) and how they demonstrate God's love. I'm looking forward to attending again tomorrow.
I completed a week of a 4-hour French class that was a type of orientation. Apparently I didn't do that well on my level-placement test, so in two weeks time, when the French-for-foreigners classes start, I'll be in the second level (there are four). The first week was a little too easy, so I hope those classes are ok. (Some people were surprised about some of the placements.) I don't mind if I'm in a lower level if I can do well, but I think I'll mind if it's too much review. For example, we were going over passé composé on Friday...something a lot of us started learning around grade 7 or 8! The main thing I'm concerned with, is that I am not allowed in a certain class I need because I'm not at a high enough level. I've convinced them to let me try, but that is pending if there is space. That class doesn't start until October and I figure I'll have improved by then anyway. I can already tell that I'm improving with my oral and comprehension! (Now to work on writing well under a time constraint and without a dictionary...like what was on the test I guess I bombed, AND on the exam from my summer course that I didn't do that well in.)
Figuring out courses is a bit mental! I finally have it together, but there is a conflict. I have to make up a certain amount of credits to satisfy my home university, but I am asking them if I can be a few short because of this conflict. AND because, I already have to take 11 courses! These 11 make up 16 hours of class per week. I think that's just a little bit more than at Laurier. These classes are Spanish and Portuguese and they start on Monday. We basically just show up and THEN register. Something like, we just introduce ourselves to the prof and ask to be in the class! We have until November to have our classes all figured out and decided. Pretty funny! I learned this week that university in France costs students on average 400 Euros a year!! I'm wondering where all of my tuition money is going!
Friday's last class included a bit of a scavenger hunt around the city where we learned some things and saw some neat things. I think I will pass on some of those interesting bits and photos in a future blog as this one is getting quite long! Thanks for reading!
Oh I forgot. Last weekend, I also went to a Chinese Buffet where there was karaoke in French (of course). It was huge and people were quite into it and singing along while they ate.
I also got a homemade chocolate cake, card and "Joyeuse Anniversaire" song (yes, different than "Bonne Fête" like in Québec) last night from my housemates (mom and daughter) for my birthday. C'était très gentil.
1 comment:
I'll bet the high taxes in France subsidize the university. But even in Canada foreign students pay more than double what we do. That's the way it goes....good way for the universities to make money! Maybe all you exchange students are funding everyone else, lol.
Keep us updated on food adventures!!
Post a Comment