"J'en ai marre!"

I think I'm going to start keeping track of my favorite things to say in French, the above being one of them. For anyone familiar with the Smiths, the pronunciation of, "J'en ai marre!" (I'm fed up with...) is exactly the same as Johnny Marr, their lead guitarist.
Another of my favorites is spoken instead of "Cheese!" during pictures. The French say, "Oustiti!" which is a type of bird, apparently. "Fromage" just doesn't conjur up a smile the same way cheese does, I suppose.

I have a huge crush on my phonetics/oral expression teacher, Loic. I hope I can take a picture with him before Friday, so I can show all of you my flavor of the month. He's fantastic.

So here I find myself, with only four days left in Tours. I can't believe that I'm going to Paris on Friday; it seems like only yesterday, I was arriving here at 63, rue Jean-Jacques Noirmant, and meeting Serge and Marie-Joe. In a few days I'll have to leave their delicious cooking and comfortable bed behind and take on the big city. I have to say, I'm a little apprehensive, just because the program directors haven't been all that helpful in getting us set up for our semester there. I don't even know yet what level I'll be in at the Institut Catholique, or "Catho", nor do I know what electives I can take.

I've struck up a friendship with a few people from the other big program studying at the Institute, from Hartwick College in New York. We went out together this weekend, and our two groups do a lot of excursions together, so on Saturday we all took a bus to the chateaux Chambord and Cheverny, and on Sunday, we went to see an opera at the Grand Theatre, called "Le Pays". It was a great few days and I really like all the girls I've been hanging out with. I'll be really sad to see them go on Sunday, as their program is just for the month of January. I think some of them are starting to wish that they could stay too!

These are some of the people from the Institut on Friday night,
enjoying a few drinks in Place Plumerau before going dancing...

Amanda and I

Some of the 72 hunting dogs kept at Cheverny



Flashing the peace sign...
One of the most magnificent places in the world!






Girls from Hartwick- Becca, Amanda, myself, and Nat(h)alie

I find myself eating things I would normally refuse, to be polite to my host parents. Well, really, I just mean veal and steak that was almost still alive and way too rare for my taste. Everything else, I have no trouble eating, and enjoying (thanks mum and dad!) Unlike many of the other students I'm studying with, I have not, am not, and never ever will be a picky eater. You won't see me taking tomato sauce off my pizza or scraping pesto off my sandwich. No sir. I have, surprisingly, managed to steer clear of "chevre", or goats' cheese, and I wish so badly that I enjoyed the taste as it is quite a specialty here in the Loire valley, but alas, I just can't do it.

I've had to invest in a battery charger as my camera died over the weekend, bringing my total "investments" count to 4: another coat, the battery charger, a hairdryer, and a Longchamp bag. Hopefully I can get my "investments" out of the way before Paris....

Since our train leaves Tours at 12:09 on Friday, our group won't be attending classes and is therefore missing our weekly test. Quel dommage. I sure will miss Francoise and the black trousers she wears every single day, the way she casually makes fun of us hoping we won't notice, and her penchant for "travaillez avec vos voisins".

Hanging out with a goat on a leash in Place Plu.

Average Saturday night, I suppose...

I suppose the next time I write will be from Paris, hopefully. Bises!