Vendredi - Friday

This week has flown by so quickly! I can’t believe it’s Friday already. My afternoons and evenings have been filled with special activities and outings, which makes the time pass more quickly. Before I know it, I’m going to be in the airport in Little Rock. I actually have mixed feelings about that. The longer I stay here, the better it gets. I’m becoming more comfortable with the culture and the language, developing good friendships, and get this: I’m not getting lost anymore! (That alone makes me happy.) It’s a little odd to think that just last week I felt like I was nearly ready to come home, because now I wish I had more time left here. One week doesn’t seem like enough. Ah well. I’m looking forward to things at home, too, like seeing my family and friends and Roffles, trying out my new recipes, swimming at the lake, watching French movies, making a scrapbook of my ‘sejour à Québec’, starting school, going dancing again, helping with the CPC banquet…and tons of other things. But, before I get to all that, I still have a week to enjoy here in Québec:

• Concert Sous La Lune: outdoor classical music concert tonight

• Trip to Vieux-Québec for sight-seeing/shopping/eating with Megan & Amy tomorrow afternoon

• Trout fishing with my host family Sunday afternoon, if they’re not busy and if it isn’t raining :P

• Fireworks competition finale at the Montmorency Falls Wednesday night

• Musée de la Civilisation

• Another trip to the port market

• Musée des Augustines

I realized that there’s another benefit to participating in this immersion program: being able to sympathize with foreign students who are learning English. Being one of those students right now, I know how difficult it can be, and exactly what they struggle with. And, now I also know how to make it easier on them: speak more slowly, watch the slang, and use simple words to build up to more complex vocabulary.  Also, it's good to go the extra mile to make them feel welcome and comfortable in new social settings.  There's nothing more awkward than joining a new social group and not knowing the language.  Well, I gotta go get ready for the concert, so...a bientot!

Later…

Wow, that concert was lovely! Granted, it was a long drive to get there, but I think it was worth it. Plus, I can sleep in tomorrow. :) The bus ride to Montmorency Forest was about an hour long, and David and I spent it talking about drivers’ licenses and our favorite comedy videos on YouTube. One of the animateurs offered us some really chewy and slightly sweet bread (I’m guessing he made it) and passed out a few articles of warm clothing left over from the costume ball. Everyone else had packed really warm jackets, so I was wondering if was going to be warm enough in mine. They kept saying that it was going to be really cold. The concert started indoors, actually, with some folkloric music. I loved the atmosphere: dimly lit, one candle, soft voices, and a violin, guitar, flute, and … I don’t know what it’s called. It’s a Native American instrument, I think, that you blow into; it makes a deep vibrating sound.  (Edit: Evan says it's a didgeridoo.  Thanks, Evan!)  Anyway, there were three men and a woman, and they explained that the concert would be about 20 minutes farther into the forest, on a lake, where we would have the opportunity to relax and enjoy music and nature at the same time. On the drive out there, David and I discussed the necessity of slowing down to savor life and his obsession with Doritos – the blue kind. He says he could live off of them…

Anyway, when we finally arrived at the lake, out in the middle of nowhere really, there were only a few luminaries lighting the path. We could see four luminaries floating on the lake, evidently in boats that were prepared for the musicians. Once everyone had settled down on the ground at the edge of the lake, everything was silent, and we waited for the music to commence. It took a while, but finally we heard the sound of birds chirping floating across the lake – quietly at first, then louder – and then the guitar gently slipped into the background. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The rest of the concert consisted of cheerful flute duets, violin solos, Indian-inspired chants, and traditional folk music, with a lot of breaks for silence. It was a little chilly, and it rained a couple of times, but overall, it was enjoyable. About halfway through, I decided to lie back on the ground and stare at the sky – that was even better, because despite the storm clouds, I could see stars twinkling intermittently. The concert ended at around 11, and we still had to drive all the way back to the tourist station to thank the musicians, buy CDs, and use the bathroom before making the drive back to campus. I actually slept for a little while on the way back. I wasn’t expecting to be out quite that late, so I wasn’t really sure what to do when I got back. I didn’t want to walk, seeing as it was 12:30am, and I didn’t want to walk across campus to the bus stop by myself either. David was kind enough to escort me to the bus stop and wait with me until the bus came. We decided that we were both tired enough to talk in English, so we discussed weather phenomena (tornados) and favorite sci-fi authors. Oh, and finally, someone noticed my Arkansas accent! I suppose I was tired enough that it came out. Ah well, he pronounces certain words with a Long Island accent. :P Anyway, the bus finally came, and they didn’t say anything about my pass, so I finally made it home around 1am.

Oh yeah…the pass. I was sitting in class today when Megan and David started talking about how they didn’t know what they were going to do about their bus passes. I had no idea what they were talking about, so I asked…and it turns out that the monthly bus pass that we purchased doesn’t last for one month from the date of purchase. It’s only good for the duration of the month in which it’s purchased. So, at the end of July, all of our passes expire. I don’t think it’s a fair policy, but…there’s nothing we can do about it. We talked about the different options: day passes, single tickets, another monthly pass. Those cost $45.80, while the day passes are $6.20 each. Single tickets are $2.35 for students, or you can pay $2.50 in exact change on the bus. Whatever you do, nothing is quite as economical as the monthly pass, but I don’t have the money or enough time to really get $45 worth of use out of it. I think I’m just going to buy some single tickets and keep walking to and from school every day. :P 

Au plaisir!