Aaaaaaand she's back in action! I haven't written on this blog in a week, and I know you were all terribly saddened by my absence. It's been a busy few days for this one. Lucky for you, I have lots of exciting things to share!
First of all - my weekend in Loire Valley. The class and I took a 3 hour bus ride to a remote area of the countryside for the weekend; a place where the air is clean as it is crisp. After spending a month in dirty Paris, I got high just taking one breath outside in this truly and tremendously beautiful part of France. Loire Valley is the home of a lot, and I mean A LOT, of chateaux. And they are all spectacular. Most people would think that this trip would be rather boring, but frankly, it was a blast. First of all, there are the castles themselves: stunning, ENORMOUS, and filled with fun, secret factoids that only Maria, who played tour guide, knew to tell us. Second of all, the entire area is quaint and inspiring just to be in. Even our hostel was fantastic. There are also a few vineyards, which I happily frolicked in during sunset, thinking of my dear mother and Jeff who would have loved to have been doing the same. We also got to visit the home where Leonardo Da Vinci lived near the end of his life. Now this was really something. After going almost his entire life pretty much unrecognized and unloved, he finally got his; Da Vinci was asked by the King of France at the time, (Francois I), to come to the Loire Valley and serve as a sort of mentor figure to said king. In his home, we saw his furniture, his drawings, and on each wall, there is even a wise Da Vinci quote. One of the coolest parts, however, (which is hard to pin down because everything Da Vinci ever did was amazing), was the basement. In the basement, there is an exhibit of all of Da Vinci's inventions. Since the man was a genius and thought of everything before anybody else, i.e. cars, mills, airplanes... you know, the basic stuff, there wasn't the technology to really expand on his ideas. However, he made sketches. Lots and lots of sketches. When the sketches were posthumously found, IBM was nice enough to build models of all of his creations - all of which are in the basement. I was floored and ecstatic, riveted and overjoyed to be there. If any of you get the chance, GO.
Coming back to Paris, I resumed class and all the routine things that go along with that: dinners with my host parents, who continue to show generosity and kindness, homework, eating bread, so on and so forth. However, on Wednesday, even more historical, mind-blowing events happened if you can believe it! We got to go to Chartres, a stunning cathedral in.... Chartres. And in Chartres, we were lucky enough to attend a walking lecture with Chartres-expert Malcolm Miller, an adorable and truly genius old British man who has published books on his Chartres knowledge, (go to Amazon.com if you want to see!). The lecture was only an hour long, but I learned some incredible things... For example, did you know that in the secret relic room in Chartres, it's been said that they have a 16" piece of silk that is supposedly one of the pieces of fabric that the Virgin Mary was wearing when she gave birth to Jesus? I know, I know. It sounds impossible. Because not only does that imply that the Virgin Mary existed in reality, (sorry, but she could just be Bible fodder for all I know), but that is one freaking old piece of silk. Apparently scientists have done tests on it, and it's been proven to date back that far. Believe what you want to believe.
I could go on, but the amount of things that I learned in one measly hour, not to mention the extent of this man's knowledge, is unable to be expressed. Whoever you are reading this, we shall do lunch when I am back in the United States and I will tell you more. Better yet, go to Chartres too! And make sure Malcolm Miller is there!
This brings us to tonight... your typical Thursday evening, except not at all. My friends and I decided to go to a salsa dancing lesson. Unfortunately for us, we just so happened to miss the beginner's lesson and were lumped in with the intermediate dancers. Mmm... what a mistake. Now, I've been told I can bust a move. But believe you me - I am NOT good at salsa. Or any real choreography for that matter. And upon getting there, the group was asked to stand in a circle, boy-girl-boy-girl. There was one small circle of people in the middle for the best dancers, a circle of other people outside them for the second best, etc. , etc, you get the picture. We, of course, were on the outer-most circle. However, the MC/teacher was not pleased that we were standing 4 girls in a row. Upon being recognized for our incorrect line-up, a gentleman from the inner-most circle came over to us, said "Qui danse mieux?" ("Who dances best?"), at which point all of my friends look at me... Before I know it, I'm being dragged to the center circle - where the BEST DANCERS ARE. Well. Let's just say that Victoria failed miserably. But had great fun! To be honest, these dancers took it very seriously and seemed to feel that us Americans really harshed their mellow by showing up without any skill or hand-eye coordination, making it difficult to feel at all welcome. I still had a great time, but unlike the rest of my experiences this past week, I didn't learn that much. Everyone has a special skill. Mine is not salsa dancing.
In conclusion, it must be noted that today was my French final exam and tomorrow is my last day of class. On Monday, I begin my internship; I'm meeting with my future boss on Monday morning to discuss what it is exactly that I'll be doing with their theatre/company. Updates to come on that.
I can't believe it's been a month already. Judging by how much I've learned thus far, I'm hopeful and excited for what the future holds... really, truly ready. I just hope the future is ready for me too.
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