fetchez la vache!

i am loving french culture right now. there is one thing that i have here that i dont have in America. balance.

every day, i eat balanced because thats all there is to eat. i start out with bread and confiture--a type of jelly with real fruit and almost no sugar, coffee, very black and very good, and a type of fruit. for lunch--saucisson, a cured type of ham, with cheese, usually camembert or rochefort--goat, and bread with a salad of some sort. and dinner...oh dinner...

dinner usually contains dishes of the region, including ratatouille, quiche lorraine (true, not americanized), or different types of alpin dishes. after that, cheese, bread, and wine--usually a dark red but today i found an ardeche--very white. the best wine i have ever tasted. it was clear, crisp, clean...beautiful.


it is expected daily to exercise here, whether it is walking, hiking, running, biking, or whatever--it is something about this region of France, sort of like Colorado. i usually run between 5 and 10K per day. the routes around here are beautiful, weaving in and out of the isere valley up and down different mountians. normally, i take a route that the french resistance during world war 2 took to the vercourse..incroyable.

also, it is expected to read at least an hour--each appartment is filled with books and newspapers scattered about. my french has improved greatly because of this...

but most importantly, in French culture, daily time with friends and family is the most important thing. lunch time is devoted to this. every day, i go with a few friends that i made from spain, pakistan, and russia to a different restaurant to eat anything from pizza to tapas. the conversations we have had have been incredible: each of us have gotten to share about our country and our history. religion is a great topic as well.

after explaining my version of christianity, i was asked if i was practicing, since most people who believe in the things i believe in dont go to church, right? after explaining that it is my most important activity to me and my community is the most important thing to me, the people are amazed...

i have also started a bible explanitory session with a group of muslims (who i hiked with)...more to come on that, probably...


my voyages have taken me to annecy, chambery, beaufort, geneva, lausaunne, luscerne...and soon to chamonix, aix les bains, aix en provence, nice, monaco, cote d'azur, montreux, beaujolais (for the fete de nouveau vin), and corsica--all in the first month...

it will all die down as i prepare for school. i am scared to be surrounded by french students, but it will be great.


and my mom sent me cookies:)...if anyone else would like to do that, shoot me an e-mail and we will hook you up with my address...

i hope all is well.



oh...and fetchez la vache was a phrase used in monty python and the holy grail with the french scene...

and it is a huge inside joke among the english speaking people at our school.