On Sunday, Sylvie's husband (the program director in Poitier) took me to an outdoor market. The market was in a beautiful small village called Chasseneuil-du-Poitou. I didn't get to take pictures of the village, but I will definitely go back and visit another day. Anyway, the market was more like a huge outdoor garage sale. People brought their tables and booths and sold what they didn't use anymore. There were a lot of antiques everywhere. The market was really large and there were many things to see, but I only had an hour and a half because Sylvie's husband was in a hurry to get back. I bought a purple dress with lace, a old yellow t-shirt that says "La mode des montagnes" which means "the style of the mountains.. I am semi a mountain person.

 I am not sure if French people are ok with me taking photos of them, so I discreetly took photos. This was one of the better

 After finishing a long journey of walking, I bought some French baked goodies. I forgot the names, but the taller one was like very dried custard/flan that was covered in sugar, and the little balls were like cream puffs, but with nothing but air inside.

 My host family finally came back from their vacation and they picked me up after my orientation on Monday. There is a mom, a dad, a boy who is 17 (I think, he doesn't talk much), and a boy who is 7 (I think.. he talks too much). The house is very beautiful and the family is really kind. They love to cook, so I am very excited to learn how to cook a few dishes from them. The picture above is a picture of my room. I like the small cozy feel to it. I think I will cut my room in half at home.

 This is my closet. Right now everything is organized, and I hope it remains that way for the whole semester. I am living a different life, so why not try being organized, right?

 This is the view from my window. The family has a beautiful garden, and they grow their own vegetables. Overall, they are very "ecologique".. I think that means environmentally friendly.

 I finally explored the city today after school! This is a picture of "centre ville". Centre ville in French cities is where everything happens. There are stores, services, transportation, bars, restaurants, cafes and churches. This is the perfect place to people watch.

The picture above is a picture of "l'eglise de Notre-Dame", the church of our lady. It is very grandiose. A lot of the older cities in France have a "notre-dame", which is basically a religious reference to having a lady look over them. In Poitiers there is a tall statue of a lady and it is suppose to look over the whole city and protect it.

 This photo is for those of you who don't believe I'm here.. I'm here!

 This is the "Hotel de Ville" and the plaza in front of it. I hung out in centre ville after class with some friends (from Oregon and the UK.. the English speaking people) after class today. We were sitting to the left of it at a bar.

And these two young filles are Clara and Margaret. Both are here with the same program. Clara she's very happy because she can legally buy alcohol.

Class was a little long today. We are in this orientation phase in which we basically do intensive language classes from 9am to 4pm. I'm not used to taking classes for that long.

I bought my bus pass for the semester, and I finished some stuff with the bank.. Tomorrow I will buy a telephone card. I got lost on the way home this evening and ended up on the other side of the city. The buses stop running around 8, so I ended up walking home from the train station (which isn't to far, I took another bus there). But yea, I explored the ghetto-er areas of the city which was nice so I don't have a one sided view of the city.

Class tomorrow again. I'm eating cafeteria food right now which is not bad tasting and it's pretty inexpensive for students. Which is great so I don't have to worry about packing a lunch.

To finish tonight's post.. what do you all think about the layout/design of the page?