Giving thanks.

Thanksgiving was initially going to be 'just another day' in Montpellier, but thanks to a friend, I learned of a Protestant church in town that was having a repas traditionel de Thanksgiving - with all those delicious American Thanksgiving foods we know and love! I went for a long, one-hour jog yesterday through some of Montpellier's countryside, so I was feeling particularly good about myself and decided that this was certainly a good day to be indulgent. Myself and four friends from my exchange program found our way there and enjoyed a wonderful taste of home, for free minus one donated canned good. Before the meal we got to enjoy a rather interesting presentation followed by a skit, both in French, on the history and meaning behind Thanksgiving in the States. Unusually, somewhere in the program Abraham Lincoln made an appearance and talked a bit about the Civil War...? But the weirdest thing was that he was speaking French with a terrible American accent - it took us a good five minutes to realize that the guy was actually French, and only doing a parody (and a pretty funny one!) of an American attempting to speak French. I felt much better after I was in on the joke, though at this point we were a little hungry and didn't listen much more to the story. The skits lasted about an hour, cut us some slack! Haven't we learned this since kindergarten anyway?

Afterward, there was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, and dressing made with French bread. The dressing was a little unusual, but overall the meal was delicious! It was a wonderfully spent evening, and we ladies put the French to shame with the small mountains of food we piled onto our reinforced paper plates. We came back way too stuffed and extremely satisfied. It wasn't like home, of course, but after some reflection I've decided that I don't want it to be like home because it will never be as good. I'm here for something different, and, in the spirit of the holiday, here are some things I love about Montpellier/France/studying abroad and that I'm very thankful for:

-The massive improvement in my French since I've been here
-My little studio with its little balcony
-The cheap produce and groceries
-Cheese!
-The bakeries and all the delicious pastries
-Bread products - baguette, croissant, pain au chocolat, etc...
-The food in general
-The weather - up until recently it's been mostly mild and beautiful
-The abundance of beautiful, scenic places you can jog to
-Deliberately taking wrong turns and ending up somewhere really cool
-Downtown's constant supply of live street music
-The rail network!
-Getting to go to my first pro soccer game
-Taking a chance to go to Marseille, by myself, for 4 days - and being infinitely glad I did!
- Fall break and Halloween in Barcelona
-Trying my hand at homemade soup. Success!
-Proximity to the Mediterranean
-Finally being able to confidently give directions in a city I'm getting to know
-Wine for as little as 3 euro a bottle
-Always having something fun to do during the weekends
-And maybe Monday and Tuesday as well =)
-And friends to do these fun things with!
-Improving my dance skills ;)
-The abundance of kebab restaurants!
-My courses being neither too easy nor too hard, for the most part
-Never being asked for ID!
-Being able to dress classy without feeling weird (this one goes to you, Bama)

-Not feeling like I constantly have to compete with others
-Being able to observe an opera rehearsal (this happened last week!)
-The lovely churches and cathedrals
-All the good times to come =)

I thought that this would be a good reminder that no matter the ups and downs, these are the things worth preserving. Coming up this week is getting down to business in preparation for exams, and squeezing in some fun along the way. Hopefully, ice skating! Until next time!

Sand sculpture from Barcelona =)