Weekend of FETES!

This past weekend was a bit of a celebratory one!! On Thursday, my group at the university had a picnic together to celebrate our last day of classes. In our group, we have people from China, Japan, Nepal, Sweden, Norway, Spain, the US, England, and more!! It is quite an interesting mix of people and cultures and we had a great semester together!!
This weekend was also the HUGE surprise 60th birthday party for my host father, Christian. We threw the party at a beautiful house with a GREAT view of the city. It was a party that lasted well into the next day and from which I have some WONDERFUL memories.
My roommate, Kate, left today to head back to the US. On Thursday night, we had a family farewell dinner at a great little restaurant in Old Montpellier. Last night, the girls all took Kate out to her favorite—Indian!! We received another roommate today who is called Juri. She is 28 years old and comes from Japan but doesn’t speak a word of French. It is a marvel to see how quickly she learns! It was sad to say goodbye to Kate but all good things must come to an end. I will be heading home on Saturday…I can’t believe it all is ending so quickly!

GROUP B2-4

The entire group before our picnic/Jenna and I with the Chinese guys who LOVE Americans!

60TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

The three roomies/Three roomies plus Jenna

Beautiful gardens at the house/POOL!!

Gals chillin by the pool/After Molly lost her balance and fell in the pool (no alcohol in her system)

Singing a song to Christian/THE CAKES!

GOODBYE KATE!

Roomies plus Colette at family dinner/The gals (minus Molly) at the Indian restaurant

The King of Cheese

This past weekend, I had a day that would please any truly French man or woman—I visited the Roquefort caves. For those who don’t know, Roquefort is a French cheese well-known throughout most of the world for its strong taste. It is a bit similar to blue cheese but, in my opinion, far stronger and tough to swallow. Roquefort cheese, by European law, can only be produced in the town of Roquefort, about an hour and a half west of here. The process of making the cheese is quite disgusting and is as follows: The producers make the cheese using the milk of ewes. Next, they add mold (yes—green, smelly, icky mold) developed from burned yet doughy aged bread left in the caves. Then the cheese ages a couple of months longer in the caves and, VOILÀ, the moldy cheese is ready for consumption.
The last I heard, the US was “at war” with Roquefort cheese because of a European Union ban on imports of American beef due to the presence of hormones in the meat. The import rate for the cheese into the US spiked up to about 300% and, according to my host father, the price is sky-high in the US. It might be a good idea to keep an eye out for it and see how expensive it is. But you have been warned—it has a VERY particular taste, which is why my host father calls it “The King of Cheeses.” Eat at your own risk!

One of the tallest bridges in the world

La Couvertoide (OLD city built by the Templars during the Cruisades)

Look at all the cheese!/Someone got hungry and now the cheese stands alone...

Look at that DELICIOUS looking mold/Cheese wall painting