Study, Study, Study

Sunday: Sunday morning we woke up early and had some breakfast with Juliette’s family before heading out to the train station in Avignon. We had an easy hour and a half ride back to Lyon. We got in by about 10h30 and I headed home to unpack. I had some lunch with my host family and started studying for my Political History of Health final exam on Thursday. I spent most of the day catching up on miscellaneous things and studying for the exam. I had a nice dinner with my host family, skyped with some friends and went to sleep.

Monday: I woke up and did some final edits on my independent study dossier before meeting up with Annick to finalize it. She helped me finish editing the text and we worked on titling all my pictures. After that, I went over to FNAC in Bellecour to buy some glue so that I could put my dossier together. Next, I headed over to La Mere Jean to have a quick onion tart and salad for lunch. It was absolutely delicious and kind of weird because that will likely be the last time that I eat there before I leave. Once I finished my lunch, I headed over to the Lyon 2 library to meet up with my friend Léa to study for our exam on Thursday. We spent over 5 hours together “studying” for our exam. We ended up talking and hanging out for a while, but it was very helpful for me to talk through a lot of the material with her and figure out some of the information that I was confused about. After that, I headed right back home to have dinner. I thought that my host family wasn’t going to be home for dinner, so I ate before they got home, but it turned out that their dinner party was cancelled so they ended up all eating together. After dinner, I spent some time researching sublets for me to live in at the University of Louisville in June while I take organic chemistry.

Tuesday: I woke up Tuesday morning and went for a nice run along the river. I came home, took a shower and had lunch. Except for dinner, I spent the rest of the day finishing my studying guide for my final on Thursday.

Wednesday: Wednesday morning, Barbara arranged for us to have a tour and tasting at Bernachon. Bernachon is a famous chocolate shop in Lyon. We took a fascinating tour of the expansive behind-the-scenes area. We saw the 10 types of cocoa beans that they mix in a special recipe to make the chocolate. Then we saw the machine they use to refine to beans to give them the chocolate flavor. After that, we saw them crushed and stored. Finally we saw the machines that press them into what we think of as chocolate. After that they are boiled in these machines, sugar is added and they are hardened into bars to be kept for at least 2 months to mature before the bars are melted down to be used to make the incredible chocolate creations. After the fascinating tour, we got a chance to taste some of the delicious chocolate and even got to take some home with us. It was a fabulous little excursion. Once we finished our tour, I went home to do some more studying before meeting up with Dana in Valmy to go to l’equinoxe to have FONDUE! I’ve been wanting to have fondue ever since I got to France and the time had finally arrived. I did a bunch of research online and found a place that wasn’t too expensive but was listed as one of the best fondue restaurants in Lyon. We had a traditional cheese fondue. It came with perfectly crisp bread for dipping, a delicious side salad, potatoes and a lovely glass of chardonnay. The fondue was simply to die for. I was honestly in heaven the entire meal. Once we finished every last drop of the fondue, it was time for tea and this digestif made from verveine, which is a type of plant often used to make tea in France. It was so strong that Dana and I couldn’t make it through much of it. It was one of the best meals I have had in France and I was surprised that I didn’t have to be rolled home afterwards. I got back home and spent the rest of the day studying. I began to get really nervous for my test, so I studied quite a bit. My host mom made a really nice meal for dinner, but I was still full from lunch, so I managed to eat a couple bites just so I wasn’t too rude.

Thursday: I woke up Thursday morning, did some last minute cramming for my exam and headed to campus to take the test. The last time I went to Bron for class, there were problems with the tram, so I left over an hour early to be sure and just studied for a bit once I got to campus before the exam. We all sat down in the big auditorium for the test. She began to pass out exams and skipped over me, realizing that I was an ERASMUS student (exchange student). Once she finished passing out the exams, she asked the ERASMUS students to raise their hands. Only I raised my hand. She was shocked and asked the class (/me) about 10 more times if there were any other ERASMUS students. It ended up being pretty embarrassing, but I’ve gotten pretty used to that by this point. She handed me my exam and it had the name of the class, date and other miscellaneous information at the top of the page. Then below that, all it said was “La (bonne?) santé de la population française” (The (good?) health of the French population). I honestly had no idea what she wanted me to write. I had to go down to the front of the auditorium and tell her that I had no clue what write. She told me that she wanted me to talk about the state of health of the French population currently in terms of improvements and inequalities. I kept asking her if she wanted a historical perspective in terms of the laws that were passed to get us to this point, but she just kept directing me away from that. It was really weird because the class was about the political history of health in France, but oh well. I think it went pretty well and I hope I wrote something that she will like. After the test, I came back home to take a shower and get ready for dinner. I walked over to Dana’s house to meet up with her. Then we headed out to go to Mon Bistro à Moi for our final program dinner with our host families (though only my host dad was able to make it). We had a fabulous dinner and it was great to see all the students on the program one last time together before everyone started to leave (since Janee was leaving 2 days later…). As an aperitif we had this unbelievably good drink that was some sort of rose with grapefruit. I had a delicious salmon tartar with potatoes and cabbage for my first course, followed by a lovely beef dish with pasta and cream on the side that was melt in your mouth good. Finally for dessert I had this wonderful clafoutis with pear and berries. After dinner, we gave Barbara our gifts and thanked her for everything this semester. We all got her this digital picture frame and added a bunch of photos of us from the trips that we took. Dana and I also got her a bottle of wine from the Perrouds vineyard and Ansley, Janne and Jose got her a scarf. It was a fabulous dinner, but somewhat sad that everything is coming to a close.