Il fait beau aujourd'hui/it is beautiful today

Today it feels like spring time here in Angers. For the first time I am walking to campus just with my jean blazar and a light scarf. The temperature must be around 55 degrees or more and the sun feels strong. There are some insects that are flying and some flowers that are blooming, even the dandelions. I have already been in Angers for six weeks.

Aujourd'hui il sent comme le printemps ici à Angers. Pour la première fois je marche au campus seulement en portant un veston de jean et une écharpe légère. Le température doivent être vers 55 degré ou plus et le soleil sent fort. Il y a des insectes qui volent et des fleurs qui fleurissent, même les pissenlits. Je suis déjà à Angers depuis six semaines.

CABA-BIOCOOP Discovered

This is the english version of the last post (from February 27th), for my anglophone readers:

Last Wednesday I discovered another organic food market called "CABA-BIOCOOP." The first organic food market (Rayons Verts) was located closer to me, in Beaucouzé. This other organic food market is located further away in Angers. By bus, I can get to Rayons Verts in 15 minutes, but it took me almost an hour to get to Caba-biocoop. Some prices were less expensive at Caba-biocoop than the ones at Rayons Verts, plus I found some products there that I could not find at Rayons Verts. In that case, at the Caba-biocoop market, I bought different types of sea-vegetables such as dulse, kombu, sea lettuce, nori, and wakami, grains like oats, corn, barley, etc., goat cheese, humus, soy yogurt, miso, and other products for good health, all organic. In fact, the charter of Caba-biocoop reads:

"Our network of Biocoop stores have an objective of the development of organic agriculture in a spirit of fairness and cooperation.

In association with the grouping of producers; we create equitable channels founded on the respect for social standards and exacting ecology.

We engage ourselves on the transparency of our activities and the tracability of our provisions.

Present in professional solicitation, we watch for the quality of organic agriculture.

Our biocoops are the places of exchange and of sensitization for a responsible consumer action."

CABA-BIOCOOP découvert/CABA-BIOCOOP discovered

Le mercredi passé j'ai découvert un autre épicerie biologique qui s'appelle <<CABA-BIOCOOP.>> Le première épicerie (Rayons Verts) était fixée plus proche à moi, à Beaucouzé. Cette autre épicerie est fixée plus loin, à Angers. En autobus, je peux arriver au Rayons Verts en 15 minutes, mais il m'a prise presque une heure pour arriver au CABA-BIOCOOP. Quelques prix étaient moins chers au CABA-BIOCOOP que ceux au Rayons Verts, plus j'ai trouvé quelques produits-là que je n'ai pas pu trouver au Rayons Verts. Alors, au magasin de CABA, j'ai acheté les sortes différentes des algue comme dulse et kombu, les grains comme avoine, mais, l'orge, etc., le fromage de chèvre, le humus, le yahourt de soja, le miso, et les autres produits pour la bonne santé, tous biologique! En effet, la charte de CABA-BIOCOOP lit:

<
En partenariat avec les groupements de producteurs; nous créons des filières équitables fondées sur le respect de critères sociaux et écologiques exigeants.

Nous nous engageons sur la transparence de nos activités et la traçabilité de nos approvisionnements.

Présents dans les instances professionnelles; nous veillons à la qualité de l'agriculture biologique.

Nos biocoops sont des lieux d'échanges et de sensibilisation pour une consom'action responsable.>>

On peut contacter Rayons Verts ou Biocoop à:

www.rayons-verts.fr

www.biocoop.fr

Le printemps vient (Spring comes)

J'ai récemment remarqué que le printemps veint finalement à Angers. Je vois les insectes, les bourgeons sur les buissons et les arbustes, beaucoup de pensées, les tulipes qui commencent, et les oiseaux commencent à chanter du matin.

I recently noticed that spring is finally coming to Angers. I see insects, buds on the bushes and shrubs, many pansies, tulips which are beginning, and birds are beginning to sing in the morning.

La Grève continue en mars (The Strike continues into March)

L'AG (les étudiants pour la grève) a aujourd'hui voté pour continuer le blocage de fac (et des cours) jusqu'au lundi 2 mars 2009 inclus. Donc, cette semaine je vais seulement suivre mes trois cours CUFCO (mes cours qui soutiennent la langue française, la culture française, et la conversation française).

Today the AG (students for the strike) voted to continue the University blockade of classes. Therefore, this week I will only attend my three CUFCO classes (my classes that support the French language, the French culture, and French conversation).

Je suis à Angers depuis presque six semaines et j'ai seulement suivi une semaine des cours à cause de la grève. C'est bizarre.

I've been in Angers for almost six weeks and have attended only one week of classes because of the strike. It seems strange.

RAYONS VERTS découverte/discovered

Thursday I discovered a Health Food Store (épicerie) called Rayons Verts (Green Rays) on the outskirts of Angers in a village named Beaucouzé. I took the bus there and it was somewhat scenic on the way. I did see some agricultural fields and maybe even a vineyard in Beaucouzé, along with many single-detached homes or attached townhouses. It was definately a different look than metropolitan Angers. I also saw a lot of new construction during the 20 minute trip there, where large professional buildings are being constructed just like here in Belle Beille where I live. Despite the economic crisis always talked about here, there is all of this new construction going on. Go figure.

Anyway, finding Rayons Verts was the "icing on the cake" of my vacation week. Rayons Verts is the closest thing I have found here to Natural Living Center in Bangor, where I can buy organic whole foods and supplements. This past week I started not feeling well. So I evaluated my diet here since leaving the states. I had run out of my calcium supplements, plus I was not able to find all of the "power foods" I'm used to eating at home. Therefore I was forced to search harder for a place like Natural Living Center here. Anyway, at Rayons Verts, everything in the store is "biologique (organic)." Not only did I shop there Thursday, but I returned there yesterday (Friday) also. I can only carry so much home at a time by bus. I found my favorite herbs there for infusions (tea), sea vegetables, nutritional yeast, organic produce, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, raisins, red lentils, whole grain flour, whole grain basmati rice, whole wheat couscous, almond butter, some supplements, calcium fortified soymilk, tofu, and much more--everything organic! While shopping there, I met another student from the states who was as delighted to discover Rayons Verts as I was. She is here from California, working on a PhD through Berkeley. Her husband and young son are here with her and they live in a small village outside of Angers.

Normally classes would begin again on Monday (tomorrow is Sunday; last day of the break), but the strike may delay classes from restarting.

All for now. Keep following my blog. Merci beaucoup!

My Address in Angers

Anyone can write me here at Angers. Every day I check my box at the residence hall:

Virginia Sand
Résidence Universitaire Lakanal
25, rue Lamarck
49045 ANGERS CEDEX'
FRANCE

In addition, I have mentioned my e-mail address in a previous post:

virginia.sand@etud.univ-angers.fr

MORE TRIVIA: As I mentioned in the previous post, there is no textile industry in France. Therefore, all the fabrics sold here are imported. I had originally thought that I would purchase some French-made fabric so that I could sew with it at home, but all the fabrics here are imported from other countries including from the U.S.

Sandwiches are very popular items on the menus of cafés, boulangeries, and pâtisseries here. There are sandwich shops all over Angers. Sooner or later I am going to have to try a sandwich here. Up to now, I've been preparing all of my own meals at the residence hall. There are also some "crêperies" throughout Angers which specialize in crêpes. Sooner or later I would also like to taste some crêpes at a crêperie.

All for now. Continue to follow my blog since I will continue to update it. Drop me an e-mail message or a letter or post card in the mail as I would love to hear from everyone back home.

A trip to Myrtille

Yesterday I finally found the fabric store named "Myrtille," which has a reputation for lower prices. I asked for directions from many people before I finally found it. I was surprised by the size of the store, the selection of fabrics, and the prices. I think I've previously mentioned that France does not manufacture fabric. At Myrtille there are fabrics of all kinds: wool, linen, cotton, silk, polyester, and more. There are all kinds of solids and prints, wovens and knits, fabrics for clothes and fabrics for home decor, and notions such as buttons, ribbon, not to mention used patterns, etc. Many fabrics are sold for as low as 2.50 and 2.95 euros per meter. In fact, a large poster advertised "l'anti-crises" fabrics, which translates to anti-crisis fabric. That didn't surprise me since all you hear on the news over here, on television and radio, is about the economic crisis. I'm surprized that all of France isn't depressed. However, after leaving the Myrtille textile shop, I saw many people shopping around and sitting outside at the bars/cafés in the city center. People still seem to have money to spend in the midst of the crisis. As chilly as it still is here, many bars and cafés downtown have outdoor seating for their customers. However, it is too cold for me to sit outside at this time.

While walking around the city center yesterday, I felt overwhelmed by the size of Angers. There are so many sections of the city, so many shops, cafés, restaurants, banks, boulangeries (bakeries for bread), pâtisseries (dessert shops), épiceries (grocery shops), charcuteries (meat shops specializing in pork), and boucheries (meat shops specializing in red meats), etc. In fact, I must have seen a boulangerie and a pâtisserie on every block. I even saw my first McDonalds restaurant downtown Angers yesterday, where the average price of a typical McDonalds meal is 6.50 euros, give or take. I also walked by a Levi Jeans specialty shop. I was also surprised by seeing my first flower garden here filled with colorful flowers, pansies. Apparently it is not too chilly for pansies to grow here this time of year, unless they were recently planted. I noticed lots of Old World architecture throughout the city center yesterday; even some half-timber construction. The contemporary buildings here are very square or rectangular compared to these old, more ancient buildings which display more curves and carving. There is no comparison. Many of these old downtown buildings are hundreds of years old and still maintain their charm and nostalgia from the past.

As far as the environment and climate go, there is still greenery on many bushes through the winter here, but all of the deciduous trees seem to have lost their leaves for the winter. I don't even see buds on them yet. Pigeons here are more light gray and typically have white rings around their necks. I don't see black birds, crows, or ravens here like in Maine. However, I often see a bird that is black and white, with a patch of indigo blue on it's back, which is a bit smaller than a raven and perhaps a bit larger than a crow. It also makes a different sound than the crow or raven.

Herbal teas here are typically called "infusions." In fact, the box or container of tea bags says "infusion" on it.

That's all for today. It's going on five weeks since I arrived in Angers. Continue following my blog, since I will continue updating it.

France en Grève (France on strike)

Yesterday I received an e-mail message from Michel Darmon, who is the director of Study Abroad students from America. The following is Michel's message: "This is a message to explain the situation in which we are not only at the University of Angers but everywhere in France in State Universities. There are two distinct problems. One is about the faculty strike. Some faculty are striking (not giving grades and not teaching because they fear for their status). A new law proposes to examine more closely than in the past the actual extent of their research which enables them to teach an average of eight hours a week. The second grievance is about the reform of IUFM (normal schools to become teachers) which concerns students. In short they will have to earn a Master's degree to be able to teach (elementary and secondary education). I am not commenting on the political aspects of this movement. The situation is very unclear. The support French program is working full time (fac de sciences)........I hope the movement will not continue too long."

More Cultural Trivia: Yesterday I discovered that the buses do run on Sundays, but with more limited hours. They arrive at the bus stops every hour instead of every fifteen minutes or even more frequently than that from Monday to Saturday.

I've discovered how popular hazelnuts are here, even though they are not grown in France. The French frequently add hazelnuts to chocolate bars, to cereals, and even market a very sweet chocolate, hazelnut spread under the brand-name "Nutella," although several less expensive generic brands are available in food stores. Wouldn't you know that I am allergic to hazelnuts!

More French student cultural trivia: "Pencil cases" or containers are big business in the school industry here in France. Most student here, and even teachers, carry their pens, pencils, erasers, felt-tip markers, highlighters, etc. in small, rectangular sacks often made of fabric with a zippered enclosure. They come in all varieties, patterns, and colors. When the University students arrive to class and sit down, they immediately take out their pencil cases and set them on the desk directly in front of them, usually above their notebooks. Therefore, it's interesing to look down the long tables where we all sit, and see all of these varied pencil cases lined up like "clock-work." The student pencil cases here remind me of when I was in grade school in Maine. My parents always made sure that I had a pencil case to hold all of my writing tools, etc. In addition, in another post, I think I already mentioned that the students here write on what we always called "graph paper" in the states. Since I'm still using the notebooks that I brought with me from the states, I haven't yet tried taking notes on the graph paper here, but today I plan to buy a small packet of it. The graph-lined note paper is sold everywhere here.

One other thing: When I discovered a small fabric store in the city center of Angers this past Saturday, I found that they were selling fabric made in America! In fact, they are charging 18.00 euros per meter (similar to a yard) for the same fabric that I purchase for about 4.00 dollars per yard in Maine. Plus, with the current exchange rate, I would actually be paying at least 23.00 dollars per meter at that Angers fabric boutique. I've been given the names and locations of two other fabric shops that are supposedly less expensive, which I plan to investigate this week, while on my vacation week. Here in Western France, the French term used for fabric is le tissu.

That's all for now until my next post. Please keep following my blog as I continue to update it.

En Ville (in the City Center)

This afternoon I took the bus to the city center of Angers to search for the Bar au Centre and for some fabric shops. One of my professors suggested that I visit the Bar au Centre where the French people tend to be more friendly and open to conversation. Well, after asking several people on the side walks (in French of course) the location of the Bar au Centre, I finally found the place, ordered some coffee, met two French women and conversed for a couple of hours in both French and English. It gave me a good opportunity to practice my French.

En ville, there were many, many shops and boutiques, many of which sold chocolates. There is no doubt that chocolate is big business in France, and the chocolate is delicious and varied. There is chocolate to suit everyone's particular tastes. A piece of chocolate was even served on the side when I ordered a cup of coffee at a local café.

On the trip around Angers I noticed that most people here live in condominiums or apartments that are often situated in high concrete buildings. Single-detached houses seem more rare. En ville, in the window of a real estate office, I saw condominiums priced up to 500.000 euros, which translates to probably well over 600,000 dollars. Yet there were some houses priced around 200,000 euros or a little under. Houses I've seen in Angers so far tend to be attached to other houses, sharing a common wall, with hardly any yard.

Tomorrow, Sunday, everything is closed and even the buses come to a stop.

This past week I purchased a small pocket radio for listening to the local and national news in my room. The United States and Morac Obama are mentioned a lot in the news here. Also, I was surprised to hear many American songs (in English of course) played on the radio stations here. Even in the stores and the malls the French love to play and hear American music. CD's of American music and DVD's of American movies are also sold everywhere here. The clothes here are not that much different than in the states, and blue jeans are very popular here as in America. There are some bargains, but many of the clothes and shoes I've seen are expensive. There are also many books here with American themes but translated into French, such as Whinnie the Pooh.

All for now until next posting.

The Blockade Continues

The student blockade of all classes here at the University of Angers will continue until February 24th, at which time the AG (student strikers) will hold a réunion to vote on whether or not to allow classes to continue. This past Thursday I attended the AG réunion, where I had prepared and given a speech all in French, expressing my point of view and sentiments with regards to being turned away from my classes. However, the striking students still voted for the blockade. In the meantime, the AG hopes that their striking strategies and blockade of classes will bring about the reform that they are requesting from President Sarcozy and his administration. Meanwhile, as I wait to see if my classes will continue, I am glad that my three CUFCO courses are continuing, despite the strike. In these three CUFCO classes on French language, culture, and conversation, we have been discussing and trying to understand the strike, and how democracy works here in France. It seems rather complicated to me at this point. I believe there are five different parties or groups in the political arena, each with their own point of view.

Other Cultural Aspects: As I may have mentioned before, public transportation is very plentiful here and helps cut down on the use of petroleum. In fact, it seems that every time I look out the window or down the street I see one or two buses approaching. Most of the local transport buses in Angers are double the length of the community buses in Bangor, Maine. One can get anywhere in France, it seems, by utilizing the bus and train network. In addition, the French seem to drive smaller vehicles than in the U.S., which also helps to conserve petroleum. Consequently, I see the French drive cars by Renault, Peugeot, VW, and scaled down cars by Toyota, Chevrolet, and Ford. I even saw a Chevy van that was scaled down in size for meeting the demands for smaller vehicles here in France. It's amazing that Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota makes smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles for other countries such as France, but not for the U.S. Some of the cars here are so compact that they accomodate only two people, with little cargo space. These cars appear very efficient, probably taking up less space and using less petroleum. One day I saw a 4-cyl Toyota pick-up truck go by and had to look twice. I don't often see pick up trucks here as personal vehicles; plus the smallest Toyota pick-up truck actually looks large here.

Building construction is another thing that I have noticed here, at least in Angers. It seems that, for the most part, buildings are constructed from concrete (cement), where very little, if any, lumber is used. The new buildings being constructed around my residence hall are all from concrete. Even the walls in my residence room feel like wallpaper-covered concrete.

Since this is the first weekend of my February week-long vacation here, today I am venturing into the heart of Angers (the city center) by one of the huge double-long buses to explore what this city of 260,000 residents has to offer. It is a sunny-blue-sky day for a change, even though it is still chilly. I noticed frost on car windshields this morning. I plan to go after lunch, in order to give it more time to warm up.

All for now until next time. Please continue to follow my blog, since I will keep updating it as often as possible. If you would like to contact me directly at any point, my e-mail address at Angers is:
virginia.sand@etud.univ-angers.fr

Four Weeks Here!

Today makes four weeks since I arrived at Angers; hard to believe. Unfortunately the strike continues. In fact, the organizing students of the strike (the AG) barracaded the classroom building this past Wednesday so that students could not attend classes. Students were turned away from the building and professors did not show up. Many professors support the strike. The blockade will continue until the AG votes again on Feb. 24th. Therefore, classes were not held this past Wed. through today (Friday). Tomorrow we start a one week vacation, but the blockade will still be there when we finish vacation by the 23 of February. At this point I am very worried.

My courses for Spring Semester

I have enrolled in 10 courses which add up to 13 credits, plus I've been assigned to three CUFCO courses to help facilitate my French speaking, comprehension, reading, writing, and understanding of the French culture. That adds up to 13 classes that I am taking this spring semester. I'm in my fourth week of classes now, and the CUFCO classes began last Friday. CUFCO classes are free for foreign students. CUFCO is an organization or an association who's mission is to preserve and diffuse the French language and culture globally.

My other ten classes give me enough credits for maintaining my status as a full-time student at the University of Maine and for maintaining my Financial Aid. Twelve credits is the minimum for full-time status. The ten classes that I am formally enrolled in here are: French language and the Francophone; Environment; 2 classes in Techniques of Expression in French; French Language; French Grammer; 2 classes in French/English translation; Myth and Symbolism; and the History of Art. Voilà, that makes 10 classes, plus the three CUFCO classes. Consequently, I am very busy. Each class meets once a week. Some of my classes meet for one hour, whereas others meet for up to three hours (the CUFCO classes).

I have been fortunate to discover many of the vegetarian foods that I am accustomed to eating at the local market. Over the weekend I even bought some tofu and incorporated it into a vegetable stir-fry in the community kitchen on my floor at the residence hall. I also found containers of hummus at the market over the weekend, along with multi-grain bread. This is part of my Cap-stone project at the University of Maine--surviving as a vegetarian in France. It's both challenging and fun for me to hunt for different vegetarian ingredients and then to come up with recipes for preparing the ingredients in the community kitchen. I have not yet found sea vegetables, which I miss in my diet, however, I've been told about a food co-op that exists in the city center, which I plan to investigate.

The strike is still ongoing here, and many students and professors don't show up for classes because they are on strike. President Sarcozy adressed the nation for almost two hours last week on television and I watched the entire speech. He gave no hope to the students and professors on strike. He even mentioned the United States and President Obama three or four times during his speech. I'm not sure if Sarcozy was trying to demonstrate that the United States supports his stand on the higher-education economic issue here, or if he was using the U.S. as an example. In the U.S., of course, there is no free college education for all young people, just as there is no health insurance for everyone. Students who are coordinating the strike at my campus here in Angers think that President Sarcozy is crazy. They don't think that Sarcozy is in his right mind. They blame Sarcozy for not supporting positive reform that will guarantee free higher education to all students, no matter what profession they are pursuing and no matter what economic background or class they come from. My only hope is that the ongoing strike won't interrupt my classes very much.

All for now. Keep following my blog for future posts.

The Strike (la grève) continues!

The strike (la grève) continues to interrupt my classes. Yesterday and today some of my classes were canceled because of the strike, where the instructors and many of the students don't show up for class. It is very frustrating, especially for exchange students and Study Abroad students who are paying for these classes. The French students are given a free college education, so they don't seem care whether the classes meet or not. Apparently the strike is a demand for more free higer-education related benefits, which I am trying to understand. French students don't want to work while attending the University, so they want the government to pay for all of their living expenses and school-related expenses while attending University full-time. At the same time, new residence halls are under construction to house 300 or more students near Lakanal residence hall where I live. The government seems to already provide a lot of funding for free higer education to high school graduates here. On the other hand, high school graduates in America must find a way to fund their own education. The French young people don't realize how lucky they are to have their national government support their University education. "School-spirit" seems very poor here as well. There is graffiti written on the campus buildings and cracked glass doors that are not being repaired. I can't understand how University students can go on strike when they are not working or contibuting financially. The young people seem to abuse the priviledge of a free education and seem to take advantage of the situation. They blame everything on Sarcozy.

In the mean time, as my courses continue to not meet, due to the strike, I am still not able to readily access my First Class connections with the University of Maine. The computers here at the University library keep giving me a lot of problems. On some days, I cannot make any connections that I need or want to make. It is very bizarre. Just as my class meetings are unpredictable, so are my connections on the computer. Today, for example, I am not able to access my e-mail messages through my Angers University account. When I first arrived in Angers, I was not even able to access my blog site.

Two days ago I awoke to a small amount of snow on the ground; yesterday morning there was frost on the ground and cars, and today I awoke to rain, plus found myself walking to class as it snowed. The weather here changes very quickly. Then the sun came out this afternoon and then disappeared again. Here, we are about six hours ahead of Maine.

I still have one more class that is scheduled at 5:00pm, but I don't know wether or not it will meet, because of the strike.

Yesterday I walked to a mall which took me about 15 minutes. There I found a large supermarket similar to the Super-Wal-Mart in Brewer, where both food, clothes, and other household items are sold. I bought some postcards of Angers at this mall, and there was a post office nearby, where I purchased the stamps. The stamps cost .85 euros for both postcards and letters. That translates to around a dollar to mail a postcard to the U.S. from France. Plus, the regular size post card cost me .50 euros, which might be about .75 cents in American money. As I mentioned before, the cost of living is higher here, especially for Americans and Australians.