Jen goes to the Rugby World Cup: Take 1

Yay rugby! As most people reading this know, I used to be a rugby player in college. I love me some rugby, and rugby people are also pretty special. Short bus special, but I'm loving them.

Since the Rugby World Cup began a few weeks ago, Montpellier (which is one of the cities where the matches are taking place) has been overrun with rugby fans (and players) from around the world. It is pretty fun, mostly because they are overwhelmingly British, Australian, and American and are loud, obnoxious and English-speaking just the way the French like it. Besides the amusement of watching grown men cry when their team loses, it is also pretty funny to observe the French people sneering at them on a regular basis as they walk down the street proudly advertising their foreignness with their country's respective jerseys.

Anyway, I have been enjoying the World Cup since it started by watching rugby games on TV (even one of my 3 free channels shows the games) and downtown on the big screens they put up in the town center. But Wednesday night, I got to see my first game in person!

I was really excited when my friend Paul emailed me to tell me he wanted to come visit and go see a rugby game. So, we got tickets to the USA v. Samoa game in St. Etienne, since Paul couldn't make it for the other USA games being played in Montpellier. Besides cheering for our boys in red, white and blue, we figured of all of the games in their pool, this was the one they MIGHT have a chance to win!

So, Paul and I left Montpellier on Wednesday afternoon for what turned out to be quite an adventure! He rented a car- the "Panda" (made by Fiat, that's its real name!) and we took to the autoroutes to make the game. We were making pretty good time cruising through the southeast of France, until we hit MAJOR traffic coming out of Lyon and into St. Etienne.

Tragic. We barely moved for an hour and started to watch the minutes until kick-off count down...from inside our car. Finally we made it into the city and the neon signs on the highway pointed us toward the stadium. We later found out that there were 35,000 people attending the match, in a city which usually has a population of 140,000, so I guess the town isn't really equipped for that kind of influx of people.

We parked French-style on the side of an access ramp to another road, REALLY close to some woods. Thankfully the Panda handled it, and once we had her jammed up on the edge of the road, we started running- and I mean RUNNING toward the stadium, with a bunch of other people.

Paul and I ran hard for a few minutes before we finally saw a bus-stop where busses were taking people closer to the stadium, thankfully, since we seemed to be a few miles away. We jumped on the bus, and then when the bus stopped, ran the rest of the way to the stadium as fast as we could.

We arrived about 25 minutes into the first half, sadly, but at least we were there. The seats were great, but we had to sprint about 8 flights of stairs to make it there! My quads were burning by the time we got to our seats, it was definitely a work-out.

The stands were packed, which was kind of cool considering it was the two worst teams in the pool playing each other. There were a lot of people with both USA and Samoan flags, and everyone seemed to cheer for both sides. It was an atmosphere of sportsmanship, and people just seemed to enjoy good rugby (or bad as the case may be), which was the fun part.

Half-time also brought an interesting surprise when Paul and I went in search for the bathrooms. Not only were they down the 8 flights of stairs, but they were communal (read: men and women) bathrooms, and there was no line, just 200 people pushing and shoving their way in. I was NOT amused by this because men are gross, and men's bathrooms are usually much dirtier than women's. Not to mention, I was being pushed around by a bunch of rugby guys. Oh yeah, and it was those disgusting third world bathrooms that were NOT toilets, but holes in the ground and a place to put your feet while you squat.

I was totally grossed out, but at least I had some antibacterial hand wipes in my bag which I used to totally disinfect myself afterward. Ew.

The second half of the game proved totally exciting. The USA scored two tries and made a penalty kick, but sadly, wasn't able to make up for the lost ground of the first half. Samoa ended up winning 25-21, but it was a really fun half, and Paul and I were convinced that if the USA had 5 more minutes, they could have won!!!

After the game ended, Samoa did their haka again for the crowd....five times. It was pretty fun, and the guys were obviously happy (hey, they won 1 game!) and then received their "Thanks for participating in the World Cup" medals. How tragic, and little league-ish.

At that point Paul and I headed out of the stadium and started our (very VERY cold) hike back to the car. The upside of parking so far away is that at least you don't have to wait in traffic to get OUT of the stadium! So, we got on the highway really quickly and started back to Montpellier.

It was quite a long hike back, but we stopped mid-way and bought a baguette and some sandwich meat at a gas station as a little snack. We arrived back in Montpellier around 2:30am, not terribly late, but late.

I'm SUPPOSED to go to see USA v. South Africa on Sunday, but I haven't heard from the people with my tickets in a few weeks, so I'm hoping that's still on! We'll see what happens!

Business lunches revived

Since Kathy decided to come back with me in Montpellier, I decided to give myself a "jour de conge" and skip my classes on Monday so we could hang out. I didn't feel exceptionally bad about this because 1) I figured it would be a LONG time before I had friends in town again and 2) It was still the beginning of school so lots of people are making schedule changes and trying to figure out what classes to be in.

Monday morning was pretty leisurely, we just hung around the house and had breakfast, watched some french TV, napped during "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader (French edition)" and then woke-up in time to head down-town for a classic Kathy and Jen business lunch!

I took Kathy down to the Place de la Comedie, which is the main commercial center of downtown Montpellier. It is a very nice place to hang out because there are several streets of restaurants and stores, but no cars. We were both in the mood for a bento box, but after searching several streets, didn't find a Japanese place open. So we settled for a Chinese/Thai place that I had eaten in before that was very good.

I rarely eat out, but the nice thing at lunch is that you can get the "Midi special" which is usually fairly cheap and includes an appetizer, main course, and meal. We both got a glass of wine, some appetizers (including some really good samosas) and I had the shrimp satay. It was good and we enjoyed sitting outside, chatting, and of course eating.

After spending some time at the gare (train station), trying to get Kathy's return ticket, we decided that it was time for desert. So we stopped for a coke and a waffle with chocolate (waffles are desserts in France, by the way). Certainly we won't make French weight if we keep eating crepes and waffles with chocolate, but it was a special occasion, so we enjoyed the indulgence.

The evening was also pretty fun, and like most things that Kathy and I do, revovled around food. I cooked fajitas and we drank some Muscat and watched more french TV. Including a series called "L'hopital" which looked like a combination of every successful American medical drama of all time (Grey's Anatomy, with some ER and a bit of House thrown-in). Although, instead of Dr. McSteamy, it was Dr. McTepid- the French need to work on having hotter TV stars, I mean, I can't really understand what is going on, but at least I could look at someone nice!

Sadly, Kathy had to leave Tuesday morning, but we had an awesome time, and I totally hope that there will be more business lunches in the future!!! I miss the Ho-Ho buffet and bento boxes at the Plum Tree!

Reunion in Toulouse!

The week passed by pretty quickly, I finally got my schedule sorted out at school, and went to my first classes on Friday. I had art history in the morning, which was pretty cool, and then two hours of grammar right after that. I was surprised that I could follow along with everything pretty easily, although I definitely feel like I am behind most of the other people in my level in terms of grammar. Need to get to work on that soon!

Anyway, Friday night I went to practice and then just came home and chilled. Saturday was also pretty relaxed, I cleaned, studied some grammar and then helped my host family's little boy with his English homework. After that I got showered and pretty to go the Montpellier men's professional game against Trembley.

It was really fun to see the Montpellier game, especially since I had VIP floor seats! I could talk to the players on the court if I wanted to, I was so close. Thankfully Montpellier won the game, so it was exciting.

Sunday morning I woke up and decided to go to Toulouse to see my friends Megan and Kathy play against each other! The trip was pretty easy, 2 hours exactly (direct) by train, so that was nice. I arrived around 1pm, and Megan was there waiting.

Christian had come to watch the game also, so the three of us went in search of chicken kebabs for lunch. Yay Chicken! We walked through Toulouse downtown, which although it is cool and definitely a bigger city, I have to say that it is not as pretty as Montpellier!!

After we finished lunch, we took the metro to Megan's gym and watched the younger team play. Soon Kathy arrived with her team and we were sitting and talking and having a great time catching up.

It was funny to see the look on everyone's faces when we talked- I can imagine it would be the same if my teammates could see me with my friends talking in English- I talk 100 times more!

We had a really great time chatting and then Megan and Kathy started warming up with their teams.

As expected, Megan's team won the game (her team dropped down from the second division last year, but are trying to move up again so they are very serious), but both Megan and Kathy played fantastic games. I had fun cheering for both of them despite the bizarre looks from the people in the stands who couldn't figure out why I was cheering for both sides....in English!

After the game, the girls showered and the four of us went out to dinner downtown. I was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but happy that Kathy had decided to come back on the train with me to hang out for a few days!

It was a really fun weekend of handball and friends.

First "Real" Match!

OK- I haven't posted in a while, but in my defense I do NOT have internet at my place, and since I get home really late from practice (11pm), I can't bust up in my host family's house and steal theirs. Dommage.

But, I'm working on "finding a solution" to my internet problem ASAP, because otherwise I will go insane.

Anyway, back to my update! The team played its first match last Saturday in our awesome home gym. My license still has not been processed, so I was not qualified to play. But there were six other people who were in the same boat as me, so we sat together in the stands.

I was actually REALLY excited to see my team play a real game, and very nervous. I was sweating through my clothes just sitting there wondering what was going to happen. The team we played against, St. Julien Denize de Gleise, was one of only three teams we lost a game to last season, and they had a lot of big players, so I was a little concerned.

The first ten minutes were disastrous, but after that, things fell into place. We finished the first half up by five, and won the game by eleven! 31-20 was the final score, and everyone was really happy.

It was Laurent's first game ever as a coach, and I think he was pretty stressed through most of it. I looked over and saw him pulling his shirt over his head or banging his head against the wall at times, but as usual, he was really positive when he spoke to everyone, so I think that helped people not freak out. You could tell the first few minutes of the game everyone was really nervous, and it was only after we calmed down that we started to pull ahead.

This game was a fun way to start the season, winning in our home gym by 11 points! Next week we play away at Lyon, who is supposed to be a very strong team (they have a D1 team as well), so we'll see!

Yay winning!!

Le weekend

Although by no means strenuous, I had a fairly productive week last week, so I was definitely looking forward to the weekend. Friday night I ate dinner with my host family and watched the opening match of the Rugby World Cup, with Argentina beating the French in a very fun game.

I had plans to go back to my apartment and finish unpacking after the game ended, but instead was lured into my bed to begin watching the first season of HBO's Rome, which has turned out to be totally addicting! So, I left the mess in my apartment for another day.

Saturday morning I woke leisurely, made myself some tea, watched an episode (or two?) of Rome in my bed and then finally motivated myself to put my apartment together. A few hours later, all of my clothes were unpacked, and my room was clean, and I finally felt like I had a home. It is sooo cute!

I decided to enjoy the rest of the day by taking a walk downtown and buying some bread at the bakery and a few items at the local store. It was really nice outside, very sunny, but not too unbearably hot. I enjoyed the walk around town, it also felt good to stretch my legs a bit which were still sore from the games and practices of the week.

I made my way back home and then got ready to go to my handball game. I left "early" so I could have some time at the gym to get my mental game on, but when I arrived, the game was already in progress. I totally flipped out! Apparently I had misunderstood what time we were supposed to be here. My coach had said "dix-huit et demi" (which is 18:30, or 6:30pm) and I just heard the "huit heure et demi" (8:30pm), thus, I arrived at half-time.

It was the worst feeling EVER. I couldn't believe that I had missed half of the game because of not understanding French correctly. I was extremely upset, but sat on the bench and cheered my team on during the second half. We ended up winning 29-16 against the Spanish team, which was a nice victory, but I couldn't feel too happy because I had made such a terrible mistake.

Thankfully the girls and my coach were super nice about it- they realized how upset I was and told me it didn't really matter, it was just a friendly match. But I still wanted to crawl into a hole and die. After the match there was a barbecue and then a bunch of the girls decided to go "en ville" to party a little bit. I was excited when they invited me to come along!

So, my crappy night had begun to improve as we set-off for some wine and snacks at one of my teammate's apartments. After chit-chatting and having a glass of wine, we headed into downtown Montpellier to go to a bar. It was a lot of fun to be "out" and it was my first real night in my new town.

After hanging out with my teammates (who spoke progressively more English with each drink) and meeting some fun foreigner's who also spoke English (a Canadian, some Swedes and a Swiss guy), the bar closed at 1am. Since I had agreed to play in a tournment with the younger team on Sunday at 8am, this is where I called it a night, much to the disappointment of my teammates who wanted me to come party with them at the disco until 5am!

Sadly, because everyone can smoke in the bar, I had to take another shower when I got home at 1:30am. Haven't had to do that in years, since maybe I was a freshman in college and smoking was still allowed indoors? Crazy! So I showered, put my clothes outside to air out and finally hit the sack.

7:30am came around early, and I really had to drag myself out of bed and into my handball clothes. I arrived at the gym around 8am, and there were very few people there, so I had the gym and the goals to myself. Since I am working on improving my shot technique, I spent 30 minutes or so shooting from different places on the six-meter line, trying desperately not to lean too much.

The day went by fairly quickly, and I played four games. The level was not nearly as strong as with the first team, but it was good to build my confidence. I could be a little more agressive and try some new things because there was nothing to lose. In between games, when the court was free, I practiced my shot, so by the end of the day I was completely exhausted and my shoulder was ridiculously sore.

I left the gym at 5:30pm, showered and enjoyed the rest of my Sunday evening relaxing and taking it easy.

French vocabulary lesson of the weekend: Trompe l'heure (to screw up the time)

Jen Drives Stick, Take 3: Stuck

Just for your amusement, I have decided to recount my latest adventure driving stick shift. Before you get the idea that I completely suck, I to give myself some props, I have been driving all around Montpellier for the last week or so with relatively no problems. My little car (needs a name, any suggestions?) and I are getting along very well, and I am actually quite fond of it.

Sadly, I guess I am not the complete pro I thought I was!

I was coming out of the mall parking lot yesterday (think underground parking structure) when I got stuck, and my perfect little world of driving stick shift came crashing down around me.

It went something like this: I put my ticket into the machine, the gate lifts up, and I pull out toward the sunlight. Sadly, I had to stop halfway up the ramp because the stoplight at the top of the ramp had turned red, and the two cars ahead of me stopped. So there I was, at a dead stop in the middle of a steep ramp.

I figured I would have to gun the engine a little bit when it was time to go, but I did NOT think I would continue to roll backward as this happened. And there were 4 cars behind me honking their horns. I stalled out twice, missed two lights, and still went nowhere besides back down the ramp. I wanted to cry, but instead settled for panicking and screaming obscenities.

Finally the guy got out of the car behind me and started yelling in French. I panicked more and was like "I don't know what to do" in French. He took pity on me when he heard how bad my French was and realized I was foreign. Then he came over, put his hand on my shoulder and said "OK, tu calme, tu calme" (calm down). Then he asked me for the keys, tried to explain how to work the car in French, and I pretended I understood while I hoped he would just move my car up for me. And he did.

So, with 15 cars now backed up behind me annoyed as hell, Mr. French Guy in the Green Peugeot pulled my car all the way up the ramp until the ground was flat again and I was safe. Yay! I made it! Thanks to the kindness of a stranger.

The important lesson I learned here is that I will NEVER ever stop on a hill ever again, because I still can't figure out how to get my car to go forward instead of backwards on a steep incline. I hope this doesn't mean I have to avoid the mall though, because it is pretty nice.

Pre-season Match 3

I spent today taking my entrace exams for the University, to determine my exact level of French. I was surprised when I scored so highly on my oral exam, placing me in level 4 (advanced intermediate) out of 6.

I guess having been here for the last two weeks has already affected my oral comprehension and speaking skills. So, even though I FEEL a long way from being fluent, I guess I'm understanding a pretty decent amount of Frech.

In the afternoon I took my written exam, which was 4 pages of grammar excercises and then two hour-long essays. I felt OK on about half of the grammar excercises (I think I bombed one section though), and fairly good about my essays. They aren't terrible complex, but I think they turned out OK. We'll see, if I do OK I should stay at level 4. If my grammar was really bad, maybe I'll have to drop into level 3, I'll have to wait another week or so to find out.

The cool thing about spending the day at the University taking exams is that I met a bunch of people; a few Americans, an Austrian, and some Norweigens. They were all really cool and I had a fabulous time talking to people in English. I know, I'm here to learn French, but it has been a while since I could actually carry on a conversation with people in English!

So, I'm looking forward to classes starting so I can make new friends and start to have a social life. That will be fun.

Anyway, when I finished at the University, I had a few hours to kill before going to the handball gym. I went downtown and hung out at the Polygone, the big shopping mall near the Place de la Comedie. I was on the look-out for a new school bag and some shoes, but didn't see anything interesting. So, instead I had a smoothie and a waffle with chocolate while I browsed what was "la mode" in French fashion. When did MC Hammer pants become sexy? That is NOT acceptable, and will be another fashion item I avoid along with skinny pants and 80's clothes.

When I finished my snack and had had my fill of nauseating fashion items like overalls and hammer-pants, I headed over to the gym.

As usual, I got lost for 40 minutes before I found it, but at least I had given myself enough time that I could arrive early for practice. We started at 7pm, but only ran through plays and did general passing and shooting warm-ups to prepare for the match at 8:30pm.

I didn't start this game, but went in around 15 minutes at the circle, after the other circle dominated with 4 goals. I didn't feel particularly confident on offense after strugging to connect with my backcourt in the last game against Nimes. I also have a hard time understanding the nuances of the plays, so for the time being, I feel like my backcourts are really frustrated with me. I scored one goal on a nice pass from the right back, drew a penalty on a second, and then hit the goalie in the stomach (arggggh) on the third, which really threw me off.

As a team we were killing the other team- they didn't even score for the first 18 minutes. We finished the first half 16-2, and then won the game 29-8 in the end. I played 40 minutes in total, and actually felt pretty good physically. We were finally able to run the fast break as a team and I enjoyed being on first wave. So, even if my offense is struggling at the moment while I get used to playing circle with a different group of people, at least my defense was solid and I was able to run like crazy through the whole game.

Laurent was pleased to see that some things were finally coming together (I say it is thanks to our awesome team-bonding weekend!). The plays that we practiced earlier in the evening looked good and we significantly reduced our turnovers. It is definitely looking positive for us if we can continue to keep it together.

New Apartment!

Monday I finally moved into my new apartment. Yay! I am really close to my host family, so I can still go over there and eat meals with them when I want to, and for the time being borrow their wireless internet since I haven't gotten it set-up in my place yet.

Hooray apartment!! Now with my own place, and the car, I feel like I'm starting to have a real life here. I went tonight to buy a bunch of things at the Wal-mart equivalent for my new place (even though it was almost completely furnished).

So cute, so now I just have to get it organized and then I will feel like I am really settled.

Pyranees: Pictures!

Want to check out my pictures from the Pyrenees? Click on the picture below and view the album in Ofoto!

Pyrenees: Canyoning!

Sunday morning was pretty relaxed. Laurent let us sleep-in, and then we had a leisurely breakfast outside. Bread, fruit, and various cantines of tea and coffee that Pierre brought over from his house.

After rinsing quickly in the creek that ran through the vineyard, we took down the tents and packed our bags into the van.

We spent the rest of the morning laying around and chatting, and resting in the sun. Around noon we had a quick lunch, and then we were off to go "canyoning."

Maybe I'm just ignorant, but I had never heard of canyoning before. And, like most things since I've been in France, my lack of language skills leads to everything being a mystery or a surprise. This was no exception, and I had no idea what to expect when we arrived!

We drove up the mountain this time, and parked at what looked like a scenic lookout off of a mountain road. The views were amazing, and there were mountains on all sides with a very deep canyoning running between them. The canyon was quite deep, but very narrow, so even though we knew there was water at the bottom, we couldn't see anything.

Our guide, Jerome, soon arrived. He is what I would describe as a French hippie. Very skinny, with long hair and a rugged look to him, clad in a speedo with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Classic. He sets us up with full-body westuits, including rubber socks and shoes, and of course, to top it off, a stylish pink helmet!

We started our hike around the mountain with just the rubber socks and shoes, and our wetsuits in hand so we wouldn't pass out from heat stroke. We hiked a few kilometers around a small road at the top of the mountain until we got to a place where we could hike into the canyon.

Sidenote: We were told to leave everything in the van except the swimsuits we were wearing and the wetsuits we needed to go canyoning. The exception to this was a small plastic jar that we carried for emergency items that could not get wet. Despite what you might think, that was not a cell phone or wallets or anything like that it, the "emergency items" were everyone's packet of cigarettes and a few lighters. And a granola bar in case anyone had a blood sugar issue. Love it. Seriously, a waterproof jug so that everyone would have their cigarettes! Welcome to France.

When we arrived in the canyon, we put on our wetsuits and helmets and started "canyoning." Here is my best explanation: Basically, it is like hiking in a river in a canyon. There are places where the water level is low and you are hiking through ankle/knee-deep water on rocks. Other places where it is very rocky, and you are pretty much scrambling over large rocks. There are also places where the water is deep, and you swim, or flow with the current, and better yet there are places where there are large drop-offs and you end up cliff jumping into the water below (if it is suitably deep). Very very cool!

The jumps were definitely the best part, but the views inside the canyon were also amazing. The mountain walls were really high and the canyon very narrow, so once you climbed in and got going down the river, you could not get out until you reached the end. It was a funny feeling to be inside the canyon, with these grand mountains towering over you, making you feel tiny and insignificant. At the same time, it is refreshing to be in awe of nature like that.

So, at times it was scary and took a lot of nerve to make some of the jumps. There were some where Jerome would tell us "if you are not absolutely confident you can jump farther than that rock, then don't do it, or you could get hurt." Luckily I am not afraid of heights, but I definitely had to give myself a pep talk to jump 30 feet into the river below! After doing it though, I felt invinceable, like I could do anything. It was also a nice feeling of comraderie with my teammates as we sang and cheered each other as each person prepared to make the jumps.

By the end of the 4 hour trek through the canyon, my legs were like jello, and my wal-mart watch (waterproof to 100meters) was completely busted from what I can only guess was the force of hitting the water during the jumps. The hike back out of the canyon was murder, and was more like climbing a mile of steep stairs than anything else. But it was a beautiful day and a fabulous weekend, and when we finally reached our mini-buses at the top, we were exhausted but happy.

We ate like we hadn't eaten in a year, stuffing bread and granola bars in our mouths at a rapid pace. My hair was all nappy and when I took off my wetsuit (ie. had 3 other people pull it off of me), there were bruises and marks all over my body!

When we'd finally dried off and put on some clothes, we got into the van to head home. I passed out right away, and when I woke up in Montpellier I was sad the weekend was over, but SO happy I'd gotten to go.

The point of the weekend was team-bonding, and I think it accomplished that. We all had a great time, there was no drama, and for the first time I feel like people on the team are getting to really know me as a friend. Taking on all of those challenging activities also gave everyone a good kick of confidence, and I think we all finished the weekend feeling like we could do anything.

Pyrenees: Going Climbing!

I've decided to break-up my awesome weekend into three parts, since there is a lot to say about it!

We started off for our trip at 7:30am on Saturday morning. We met at the gym, where the "club" (our social area) was open and there was tea and coffee and croissants waiting for us. Then we packed up the mini-buses and headed off to western France!

My favorite part of the drive was sleeping. Clearly. I was kind of tired after a week of getting up early and actually doing stuff. Although, I also enjoyed that in our 2.5 hour trip, there were multiple smoke breaks for the coach and the players! God forbid people go an hour without a cigarette.

So, after a leisurely drive to the Pyranees, we arrived in St. Paul de ????. Some small little village at the base of the Pyranees an hour or so from the city of Perpignan. We drove around a bunch of roundabouts (see: Jen Drives Stick Take 2) for another 30 minutes until we finally found the road we were looking for.

We pulled up in front of a gate at what turned out to be a gorgeous vineyard and orchard full of grapes, apples, plums, figs, and blackberries. It belonged to a friend of our coach named Pierre, who was a true outdoorsman. He told us not to touch his fruits, but we couldn't help ourselves and would reach-up to grab a fresh plum or some grapes when the temptation got to be too much!

After settling in a little bit, we set-up our picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day. Soon after, Pierre brought us a bunch of climbing harnesses and got us ready to go for a climb!

We drove 3 minutes away to the base of a mountain that has several nice faces for climbing. We hiked 30 minutes through the brush until we reached the first face, where Pierre hooked up our ropes. Then, we got down to the climbing!

I'd been climbing a few times before, but it had certainly been a few years. I was confident before I got started, but about 6 feet of the ground I got stuck for a minute and my adrenaline started pumping. After I got past that one tricky part, I was good and shot up the rest of the face without too many problems. When I reached the top, the view was amazing, and I had a major high from the rush of making it all the way up!

We climbed 1-2 at a time, so once I got up to the top, I hung out for a while with some of my teammates while we waited for the others to finish. The views were amazing, and everyone was in a really good mood from having successfully completed a challenge. It was a positive atmosphere the whole time, with people helping each other out by yelling out encouraging words or telling them where there were nice footholds in the rock.

After we all finished the first climb, we started on the second. The second face was much more challenging, and the top was especially tricky. I was feeling good at this point and ready to go. I started my climb when the other person was 2/3 of the way up and was pleased when I raced past her and made it to the top first. Not that it was a competition, but it was a good confidence builder for sure.

I've felt like the last few weeks have been a challenge for me, and my body has been totally stressed out even if I feel OK mentally. Being on the mountain and really getting to know my teammates and do physically and mentally challenging tasks really had a positive effect on me. I could feel the stress leaving my body and I felt much more calm and relaxed than I have been since I arrived, like I was finally finding some balance. I love that about being in nature!!

After we finished the second climb, we started our descent back down the mountain before it could get dark. We set-up the rappelling and got down to business! I was a little scared because I couldn't understand ANYTHING that was going on during the explanation process. But, when it was my turn, my coach looked at me, told me not to worry that he had my ropes and he would make sure I made it down safely, and I sat back and started to rappell. It was smooth as glass, and a great trust excercise!

The trip down went quickly, and soon we were all on our way hiking back to the mini-buses. Everyone got excited when they saw there were "real" toiletts at the basecamp, so there was a mad rush for the bathrooms. Face it, it is much easier than going in the woods!!

All in all the climbing was fabulous! The day was gorgeous and the beautiful views and sense of accomplishment had everyone feeling like they were on top of the world.

Pyrenees: Camping, french style!

When we arrived back at the vineyard, we started to set-up the tents before it got dark. That was another fun team-building excercise as we tried to put the damn things together while explaining things in a mixture of French and English (clearly for my benefit). But, with 14 people, we were able to get 6 tents up pretty quickly, and after that, the work was pretty much done.

We spent the next few hours relaxing, building the fire, eating, and playing games. Fun times!

My favorite part about the whole evening was when someone busted out the snacks. Only in France does camping mean that you have bread, 10 cheeses, wine, olives, and cashews on the table before dinner. Camping, I repeat, we were camping! But food is never lost on the French, and absolute care must be taken to prepare only the finest quality cuisine even if you are living in a tent in the woods.

With wine and beer flowing, and after some delicious snacks, we started to work on building the fire. All of those years in the girl scouts totally payed off as I helped my teammates construct a brilliant campfire. Soon it was going strong and we got ready to cook the rice and tomatoes that would accompany the high-end sausages for our dinner.

The evening was a lot of fun, and after a few beers, a lot of my teammates started speaking some English! I love that alcohol makes everyone bilingual. So, I was finally starting to get to know some of the girls, and they were finally starting to see me as someone other than just the random foreign person that never knows what is going on. Of course, there were lots of jokes about me being American, and especially how pale I was, but it was all in good fun and I was really enjoying myself.

Once the sun set and it was really dark, the sky was amazing. There were no clouds and the sky was exceptionally clear, so you could see thousands and thousands of stars. I couldn't even count the number of falling stars I saw as we all laid on our backs and took time to enjoy the beauty around us. We pointed out constellations and planets that we recognized, but it was harder than usual to spot things with so many stars shining brightly!

Finally, we ate dinner at what was probably 10:30 or 11:00pm. Although I had overseen the cooking of the sausages, I passed on that part of the dinner. "But you can eat this," my coach said, trying to put a sheep based sausage on my plate. "No thanks, I'm really not into eating sheep either." But even sticking with the rice, tomatoes, and bread, it was good. Oh yes, and of course the swiss chocolate we had for dessert! And the plums and grapes I had stolen from the orchard earlier. Delicious!

When we finished eating, we built the fire back up and sat around in a circle, camp style. We played some "get to know you" type games where we went around the circle talking about ourselves, or our teammates. It was a challenge for me since my vocaularly is limited, but then they had me explain things in English while they tried to translate them as a group. Very amusing. Then we played the game where you write a name on a post-it and put it on the forehead of the person sitting next to you. Then, you ask questions to the group to try to figure out who you are.

I put Mandela on my neighbor's head which seemed to be extremely challenging for some of the girls. I cringed when my neighbor asked if this person was American and a few people said "yes." So, maybe the French education system isn't THAT much better than the American one!

I had Edith Piaf on my forehead, which I guessed pretty quickly, much to the amazement of my teammates. They were very impressed that a stupid American would know who she is. Major shout out to my mom for having "La Vie en Rose" on repeat in our house!

So, after games, and laughter and general shenanigans, I finally went to bed. It turned out to be VERY cold during the night, and I was shivering even in a tank top, two t-shirts, two long sleeved shirts, a sweatshirt and my sleeping bag. But, I slept decently and Laurent gave us a nice "vacation" by letting us sleep-in until 9:30.