Phase Two of the Study Abroad....

Just a quick note to all.. We're leaving for BARCELONA!!! We'll be away until Sunday night, and we may or may not have internet while we're there. So if you don't hear from me you'll know why. Get ready for some amazing pictures coming up though! :)

P.S. We got a new dog here at the monastery!!

His name is Shaq :)

Oh we went hiking on Sunday too. Here are some pictures. That's my house in the background.

Farm and houses in the distance.

The Dam

More of the town.

The cross that we hiked to.

Moissac, Montauban, Gaillac, and Wine

It's been a busy couple days here lately, and every spare moment of time I have is dedicated to the anatomy exam that I have on Saturday. But to give a quick update of what has been going on, I'll first start out with the town of Moissac. We visited a small pilgrimage church and its cloister. Every time we travel to a church, I can't get over the fact at how amazing these churches are. It's every crazier to know that they were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

The front and tympanum of the church.

The cloister behind the church.

The center of the town of Moissac.

After touring the church, there really wasn't much to do in town. We then traveled to a bigger town called Montauban. We had time to walk around for a few hours and get some pastries and some shopping done.

The town center of Montauban. (Underneath all those arches are little cafes and shops)

We then headed back home for the night, which was filled with (or at least some) studying for anatomy. The next day we headed into one the wine countries of Gaillac.

The Abbaye we visited. (P.S. Mom and Dad I got some wine for you

)

Once there, we learned the history of the town and some of the techniques of wine producing. Our tour guide was very informative, explaining the process of grapes in soil, the direction you plant grapes, the tools and machines used to pick, and the process behind making a wooden barrel. After the tour was over we were able to check out some various wines and buy a bottle or two to take home. It was a bit difficult trying to find the right one, but I think I made a good choice.

Our group then left Gaillac and headed back to Ambialet. We then prepared to have a few French students over for dinner. They're actually going to school for wine specialization! (I'm thinking about switching from PT - there's no anatomy)  The students were really nice, they taught us how to have a proper wine tasting by sampling a few wines.

Some of the students and professors setting up.

It was a great night overall, before the wine tasting began, some of the boys taught us how to play rugby.

The girls even had a shot at learning too, but thank god there are no pictures of this because we got our butts kicked. 

It's been a very busy week, and will continue to be until Saturday afternoon when I'm finally done with my anatomy exam!! Wish me luck!!

Francie, Me, and Alicia

Rachel and I

Morgan and I

Roaming the streets of Albi, week 2

Yayyyyyy I'm actually posting another blog within a reasonable amount of time!!! Since I last updated we ventured once again into Albi for our classes and for more tours. Yesterday was pancake day in France, so our French teachers made everyone crepes. And they were pretty delicious! After class was over, we began a pretty long walk to the Museum La Perouse.

 While we were there we were able to get some great pictures of the city.

The city of Albi

Let's go Steelers!!

We ended our day  relaxing in a French cafe and an Irish pub. At the cafe I got a hot vanilla milk, and these chocolate profiteroles. The drink was delicious and the dessert was too, but maybe just a bit too much chocolate...

Sugar overloaddddd

While at the Irish pub, we all ordered our own favorites, the big hit with the others were snakebite beers, while I was traditional and ordered a nice pint of Guinness.

Some of the girls

It was a great way to end the day, but once we got back to Ambialet, I had one more surprise waiting for me. A PACKAGE FROM HOME!!! My parents prepared a Steeler Superbowl party all in a box including Eat N' Park cookies, plates, cups, decorations, and a few other odds and end that I wanted. Thank you so much Mom and Dad :)

My care package!! :)

Conquering Conques

Once again I fail at having a blog. But good news! I am typing from my own brand new (maybe) laptop!! Now I just have to keep it away from Francie (heheh sorry I had to put you in here somewhere Francie)

I'm sure you've all been keeping up with what exactly we've all been doing here up on the mountain through Francie's, Jen's, Alicia's, etc etc. blogs. Therefore, I'm not as pressured to make posts all the time. Thanks guys! Keep up the good work :) :)

Anywho, the students here are constantly on the move; whether it's traveling for class or just for fun. Last week we traveled to Toulouse, where we visited various churches. One of my favorites was the St. Sernin's Basilica. Along with the help of our professor, Eric, we were able to break down the different structures in the church that identified the architecture of each time period.

Sorry you have to turn your head, but this blog changes my pictures even after I rotate them. But this is the St. Sernin's Basilica built roughly in 1082.

We then traveled to the Saint Raymond's Museum where I continued my childish antics.

Immaturity at its best.

It was a pretty cool place. I even saw my dad too.

Bernie Chelko. The man, the myth, a Roman King.

We continued our journey to more churches etc. But really I know you're all dying to hear about all the delicious food we're eating over here.

All I can say about this was that it was yum yum delish

I apologize for all the briefness in this post, but I'm trying to fit the past week into one post. After Toulouse last Wednesday, we started our first classes at the University of Albi on Thursday. After classes were let out, we traveled to one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen, the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia.

Sorry you have to turn again. Stupid blog. Another reason to not update.

Our first official weekend in Ambialet, we decided to take time to relax and catch up on some of our online classes. The weather even reminded us of home when it started snowing.

The beginning of the week was once again filled with classes, but today we took another field trip to the village of Conques.

Photo credit to Francie

Before we were able to get this amazing view, we had to take the pilgrims route and march the whole way up to the village. While we were there we visited the church of Saint Foy.

On the way back to Ambialet, we got another glimpse of snow!

The trees are so pretty with all the snow.