First Week of Class Finished!

Well, my first week of class is complete. I survived, but not without lots of confusion. Thursday I have four classes and it makes for one long day. The morning class is my favorite, phonetics, and I really enjoy it. My class at OU last semester was phonetics and it was definitely a good preparation for this. In the afternoon I have oral and written comprehension and writing practice. That’s when my Thursday went bad….oral comprehension. I wanted to cry when it was over. We watched these two videos and had questions and I honestly had no idea what was happening. I felt like a complete idiot and wanted nothing more than to get up and leave. It was terrible. The written comprehension and writing practice went much better. There were some small introductions and nothing too major for the first class, which lifted my mood a bit.

After class, Jacques, Lelani, Jacques, Kristen, Kelli and I all went to go get dinner. The first place was closed (even though it was only 7:00) and so our search began again. We walked all over finding nothing but closed places. When we would find a place, no one would decide if it sounded good or if it was what they wanted so I am sure we wasted quite a bit of time. Finally, Lelani mentioned a Moroccan restaurant that she had always wanted to go to when she lived in centre ville. We chose that, and our choices for food were couscous or…..couscous. We all found the menu very humorous. A bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine later, our food arrived. It was a big plate of couscous, a bowl of cooked prunes, a bowl of some sweet raisin and onion mixture, a bowl of gravy, and two big plates: one full of sheep and one full of chicken, all with carrots, zucchini, and potatoes. I ordered some kind of shish-kabob that had steak and green peppers. It was all very good but we all started out somewhat confused. After drinking and eating to our fullest, we found out that was just the beginning. They brought out another menu with more options for meals and some dessert. Lelani and Jacques got dessert and I settled for another glass of wine for me. Kristen and I were feeling just wonderful at this point and my bad day was forgotten!

When we left there, we somehow ended up at another wine bar that Jacques and Jacques knew the owners of. All over Limoges are these "republiques" which are like town squares with nothing but cement in it, just a big open space. What better are they for than for cartwheels! I have this weird obsession with doing cartwheels in big open spaces. Even at the AOII Convention I did one in the hotel lobby. It is just perfect and seems so free. I definitely did quite a few on our walk that evening. We walked into the bar with Michael Jackson on the speakers and a crowded, popular place. It was very fun! Kelli was the smart one so she kept us all sane for the night. We talked about gold and silver, which Jacques is adamant about buying and becoming a millionaire, South Africa some more, skylines, and who even knows what else. Time flew by and it was so much fun. When we all decided we had had enough fun for one night, we start to walk back to the car, which at this point is somewhere not by where we were. Limoges has many cathedrals and I am dying to go see some, and just my luck, walking back we found one! Picture time!! I think everyone hates me for all my pictures, but my mama taught me well! Thursday was definitely a good day.

St. Pierre.

Doors at St. Pierre.

On Friday, I took Kelli and Kristen into centre-ville to get their cellphones and meet Xasin for coffee. We spent time at fnac and I got a very good book on the history of Limoges with all this information and good places to go. We also found the Office of Tourism which had lots of coupons and booklets for places to visit. I am making myself a Limoges Bucketlist and going to complete it all. Hopefully. We visited St. Pierre church and also St. Etienne where I lit a candle for my Nana and for my mom’s friend, Rhetta. I chose the red and white ones so it is also for Boomer and Sooner! You can take the girl out of the Sooner State but you can’t take the Sooner State out of the girl! J

For my Nana and Rhetta..and Boomer Sooner of course!

 St. Etienne is absolutely gorgeous. The outside is amazing and there is such detail all over it. Inside is even prettier with beautiful stained glass and tombs of many of their Saints. It is so peaceful because not many people were there and it is perfect for a nice afternoon of studying when it gets warmer.

The main entrance with the original doors.

In front of St. Etienne.

Original doors.

Stained glass inside. There was also a beautiful organ (huge!) and high ceilings.

Kelli, Kristen, and I walked around Limoges for a bit and when our feet said it was time to go, we agreed. We went through the train station, which is also very pretty, and took our bus back home! It was a good day of exploring and hanging out but also very tiring.

Saturday is the rugby game! I am sooo excited to go! We were talking about it at dinner on Thursday and I asked Lelani what the attire was for it, like dress up or like OU Football game. She said I could wear whatever, and then I asked if she had a jersey with "Botha" on the back since she is married to a player and she seemed like I was crazy for saying she needed one. I have decided she does, and my gift to her will be to somehow get her one. It is at 6:00 today so it should be a lazy day until then. I met another girl who is from UNC and her name is Ebony. She arrived either Thursday and Samy seems to think I am the person to send all the new people to because there is always a random face knocking at my door telling them Samy sent them here. I think I should be getting paid! She is nice and I took her to Carrefour to get some food for the weekend and see a little of what is right around by us. Ebony is joining us tonight for the rugby game and I am sure we will be quite the crowd.

Train Station, very pretty!

lovelovelove,

Teryn