Day-1 Done

WOW!!! I have completed my first day of university here in Purpan and I am blown away! I could not have chosen a better program and could not be happier with getting a chance to do this program.

Get excited peeps because today… I HAVE PICTURES!!! I took a few quick shots of some of the exciting pieces we got to see today and hopefully this blog may contain some more informational type stuff than what I have been able to provide so far.

So in my last blog I was waiting in the lobby of the Brussels airport. After boarding my plane I arrived in Toulouse and began my search for the Program Assistant (PA) who was supposed to arrive to pick me up. I found Thomas very quickly and was driven to Purpan, which is the agriculture school I get to study at. On our drive Thomas and I talked a little about my experiences and what I knew about France. First off, I know very little about France except what I had read in history books a long time ago and do have the knowledge that there is an incredible food culture which is one of the reasons I was really excited about coming here. But he understood and we both agreed that it was exciting that I would be experiencing a culture with fresh eyes. Rather than having preconceived notion about what the French were like.

I found out quickly that Thomas had spent time at K-State working on a research project and living with 2 professors. He said he had really enjoyed it and loved how nice people were. We proceeded to talk about other topics, specifically relating to my skills that were kind of important to have here in France, one being the ability to speak. Before coming to France I knew three words. Merci-Thank You, Wi- Yes, and Bonjour- Hello. I have quickly learned that this is not enough to get by and I will need a lot more if I am going to be able to enjoy my time with my host family next month.

Another skill he asked was if I knew was how to drive a stick shift… Um… So being in AGR you would think right… Nope. So, Mom and Dad, be happy as I will, according to Thomas, be learning how to drive a stick shift on my internship with the vineyard.

Another things about vehicles here, I think maybe I am just used to it living in AGR and being from a rural area, but literally have not seen a single truck or anything even comparable. That has been fascinating to me as growing up around them my entire life I just expected at least small ones to be here.

Once we arrived I was shown my flat. A flat is a hallway that is shared by 7 residents. Each flat has a kitchen and everyone has his or her own room. In my flat I am the only American from the program and share it with a few other girls who are French and are taking summer courses. We were given food to start out with as well since we have to make our own breakfast and dinners every morning.

This is a picture of my flat. It includes my own bathroom area, including toilet, shower and sink. It has a closet, multiple shelves and a bookcase.

Here is an example of some of the groceries we were given. The milk is on the left and since it is pasteurized differently is actually shelf-stable for a time.

That night there was a welcome party with pizza, music and yes, the question everyone is wondering, beer/wine. Everybody was meeting and talking to the others on the program and really enjoying themselves. The neat thing is that people are just social and were not drinking to get drunk, just a social norm for people in the country. At our flats we are allowed beer and wine but hard alcohol is prohibited from entering the building. During the party we noticed a small 3v3 soccer area, in which we proceeded to play until it began to get dark that night. Let me tell you guys, not playing for 2 whole years really messes with your game as my team lost the first two rounds since I let the ball easily roll past into the goal. But it is okay, we have enough people on the program that played in high school and one who even plays D-1 for Michigan State that it seems like I will be sharpening my skills pretty quickly.

That night I organized my stuff and then tried to catch up on some sleep.

Next morning we had class at 9:45am, which for the program classes is irregularly late. I will be normally be at class around 8:30am. At this later time we had our “orientation” and toured the campus. Purpan is very small and has around 1,000 students in attendance. It is also private and students pay around $3,500 a year to attend. Then we went to the cafeteria where we eat lunch for free as students. Folks, I really liked it. Like a lot. And guess what? The coolest part, in my opinion… THE FRENCH BREAD IS FREE WITH EVERY MEAL!!!

Here is my first meal in France! I had a braised beef, bulgar (very similar to rice, the yellow above), mixed vegetables, creamed cucumbers, mousse with expresso cream and BREAD!!!

After lunch we went to play World Cup at the soccer/rugby pitch they have at the university. World Cup is played in pairs and is like last team to score loses, goes out and then the next round begins. Great game, but the D-1 soccer player, a guy originally from Mali who not studies at Michigan State and a few Lebanese guys are pretty darn good. A.k.a I did not last long in this game.

The second half of the day at school was doing a tour of the library and getting to ask questions of the Program Coordinators. We learned a lot about the town of Toulouse and the university itself. A few fun facts include

1.     Toulouse is the 4^th largest city in France

2.     Toulouse is considered the most “student friendly” city in all of France

3.     Purpan, is private and cost money. The public agriculture college in France does NOT COST ANYTHING!

4.     Purpan students are required to do an internship every summer. 1^st a farm in France, 2^nd a farm in an English Speaking country, 3^rd an internship in another country, 4^th more freedom and 5^th more freedom.

After this all occurred my group decided to do a little exploring of the city so we could get supplies for supper that night and a few other things. We receive a stipend every week for grocery supplies for the week and can use that to buy things for our flats. Public transportation is very accessible as well. There are bike rentals, the tram, and the bus system. For students, all you have to do is pay 10 euros and get a card to use all of these services. For us these were free. So we had fun trying to figure out the bus system and as we quickly found out, most young people speak maybe a little English but most of the older generation did not… at all! This made our journey a little bit more challenging but eventually we made it to the store we had intended on going to. Carrefour, is comparable to the Wal-Mart of France and since a few of our items were not necessarily fresh fruit or bread we decided that it might be our best bet and could try doing more exploring when we knew more French.

This was in Carrefour in their book section!

Big shockers for the day were how much everyone recycles. There are recycling bins all throughout the city and in every flat we have bins to sort our aluminum, glass and plastic. Also it is required to have reusable bags in the grocery stores. Just an overall much more green-focused community.

Anyway I am sure I have talked all of your ears off for one day but I will keep you all posted and report back soon.

Here are a few more pictures from the day!

This is the K-State crew! There are four of us from the U.S. Starting from the left it is Grace (who just finished her freshman year in Pre-Vet and is originally from Houston) myself, Thomas (the guy who picked me up from the airport) Andrea (who has just graduated but is doing the trip anyway and actually has an interview with a French university to possibly do her masters and is originally from Maine) and Jorge (he is the only one I knew before coming thanks to a mutual friend that I work with, he is originally from Guatemala)

“The currency to living is how you spend the moments of your life.”- Richard Bandler