Le discotheque!!

Friday we only had classes until lunch, which was much needed. There’s only so long one can sit in a classroom each week. Rachel and I went down to centre ville and did a TON of shopping. It was very sad seeing all my hard-earned money dwindle so suddenly, but I’m sure it will be worth it. And there were bon marchés (good deals) everywhere! I got a pair of heels (which you know, I probably don’t need, but the shoes here are much better made and comfortable). They were originally about 70€ and I got them for 15€!!! And they are super comfortable and cute.

I got home around 7pm and Rachel and I had planned to meet up again to go buy some things and make dinner at my apartment. When I got home, however, Anne-Do was with Joelle, a friend from work, who was American! So we started talking and she said she was going to eat dinner at an old professor’s house who lived here and invited Rachel and I along. Joelle is in her thirties from Georgia and is here on an internship for the summer before she finishes her Masters. Her old professor, John, had gone to Princeton and then became a linguistics professor in South Carolina. He spends half the year in Angers and half the year in the states. We had a very nice yet simple French dinner. We began with aperitifs- a red wine with kir- before starting dinner. He had cooked a delicious white fish and ratatouille. Everything was delicious! There was good French bread, real butter, good wine—French meals are probably my favorite thing I’ve experienced so far! And of course there was amazing cheese and fruit. For dessert, I brought along the rest of my birthday cake, which everyone enjoyed.

John was a very interesting and wise person. We were only there for about 3 hours, but I learned loads in that small amount of time. He told Rachel and me that if we really wanted to improve our language abilities, we had to find something in French and read it out loud for 10min each day. This will improve our pronunciation, our grammar, our comprehension/vocabulary, and our reading skill. The trick is, however, making time to read French for 10min a day. It was a very enjoyable dinner and it was just amazing how that worked out— 4 random Americans in Angers, France! Who would have thought?

Afterward, Kindy had invited to come over to his place. We brought Joelle since Kindy and his friends are more around her age and she was saying how she really didn’t know anyone here this summer. Kindy had some friends visiting from Royen, which is in the southwest of France on the Atlantic. Dashke (spelling??) was there also, who is another student in our program who lives with Rachel. She is 18, from Russia, and is totally crazy! After hanging out at Kindy’s for awhile and watching some interesting music videos, we headed out.

Dashke wanted to go dancing so we ended up going to a discotheque. Rachel, Joelle, and I were a little apprehensive because we have a very stereotypical idea of European discotheques. And we kind of just wanted to go to a bar. But it turned out to be amazing! You paid a cover fee that got you a free drink. Inside, there were crazy lights and smoke and techno music. But it was not exactly real techno music, it was like current songs, or popular songs at least, that were mixed. So there was a mix of American and French music and many genres ranging from rap to pop to of course, Michael Jackson and “Thriller.” We had an amazing time! It was so nice because you could dance without creepy guys coming up behind you—everyone was just there to dance and have fun! It was an awesome experience and I’m very glad I decided to go.