Ireland

So being a volunteer abroad (specifically in France) is harder than I thought... To make a long story short, let's just say that introducing yourself as an American who studied psychology is apparently 2 strikes against you from the French perspective... Who knew?

I stayed with the Finiel family again this weekend in St. Hillaire (fresh air, beautiful view both into the valley and above with the rising giant cliffs). Joël tried to sort out the apparent miscommunications based upon language and culture differences (not mentioning prejudices) that had been arising without my knowledge. He and his wife also helped me out practicing my French in order to teach songs and games to children and students. They are so kind and helpful.

Also, visiting the Finiels means a busy weekend with outdoor hobbies. I have two great experiences to share:

- Joël and his neighbor and I all got into harnesses and helmets. I figured this was going to be interesting since no one was wearing climbing shoes. One rope, I was tied into the middle and we climbed/hiked along the cliff edge of a huge Alps mountain. It wasn't too difficult, more of a mental challenge for those scared of heights, but truly we were so high that I was thrilled! I really wish I had a photograph of climbing that high. I hope I can do it again!

- To come back to Grenoble, I biked the 25 km descent on a windy, two lane road through two tunnels. Parts were so steep that I stopped to walk a bit, but with many personal prayers for safety, I had a great time. It also helped me adjust slowly to the city grim and only took two hours as was expected.

Returning the international foyer and describing to the girls what happened over the weekend concerning the misunderstandings, I learned that even some of the other girls who speak French better than I do struggle with the unfriendly attitudes here. While I just assumed that I was "condemned" because I was American and I don't speak French well, they have also felt the same way. Interesting...

By the way, I've been advised to tell people I studied education, to smile all the time and to only discuss simple conversation topics (how many brothers and sisters do you have? Children? etc.). Apparently France will make me a chronic liar and conversational bore... (sorry that comment's for Gramps-- Mom you can tell him.) All this kind of makes me want to wait for a travel companion before I do this again for another long time period... I find out if my VISA will work next Tuesday... If it does, Mom, Tricia and Sarah can all buy their plane tickets to visit and I'll start planning a trip to Ireland... :-)