Pic St Loup ( St. Wolf Peak ) - Finally a new post!!!!

This is the peak. There is another peak that we climbed that had the remains of an old church. We had lunch there and then continuted to the next peak. Some were tired, I was terribly thirsty, but we made it to the top. More pics to come.

Yang stopped and asked this old French guy for directions. He was very friendly. Just standing on the corner like it was his job. Oh, and he kept waving his cane around and pointing. Just like a character in a movie.

You can see Pic St. Loup in the distance on the left. That is Yan, Sam and me. Sam is another American from my program. He lives in Arizona and is going to host me if I want to come over to see the mountains and trails.

This was the picture we took as we were just getting ready to depart at 8am in front of the school. I got a flat tire before we left. Luckily Yang brought his pump and I had an extra innertube. The one I used had a slow leak so we had to stop a few times to pump it up. I couldn't believe that I got a flat. It was my 3rd or fourth that week I think.

This was the sunrise outside my bedroom window. The first part of the day. It was amazing!!!

It is two days after my birthday, and how wonderful it was

So for my birthday, besides everyone sending me wonderful messages on facebook, email and someone special sending me a package bearing the sweetest gifts, I had a great day. It has been raining for the last week and a half, almost everyday, but on my birthday there was not a drop of rain, the sun was out and it was pretty warm. I went to my friend Yang's house for lunch. He is Chinese and knows how to prepare some pretty good authentic cuisine. After that we went for a walk around Montpellier and saw some interesting people. You see, I am on a quest for a patch that says Montpellier on it so I can sew it onto my backpack; we didn't find it. I returned home for dinner as usual and at filet mignon and talked with my host family. Then after dinner, my host dad runs off and they come into the room with a cake and candles and everything. My host dad snaps a few photos and I blow out the candles, all the while they were singing "bon anniversaire," it was wonderful.

Pictures to come later...but for now I will be posting some more cool pics from my latest adventures.

Pics from the weekend!

Weird trees that were by the aqueduct.

These are some pics of the aqueduct I mentioned in an earlier post.




This is me in front of 2000 year old ruins from the roman age. It used to be the floor of a small building. The dog just came up to me and started licking my face. Then It attacked my host dad taking the picture, then it tried to get in the car with us and after we closed the doors, he scaled the 6 foot tall gate behind me! Just jumped up and climbed over it like nothing.

This is the cat that lives around my host parent's house. It is shy and makes noise in the morning when it wants to eat. He is most definitely French! Although more northern french, the south is a lot less rude.

More pics of the day adventure with Xavi and Me

Pic St. Loup !!! I am climbing that in a few days! The next pic is Xavi and me. The Big dog (Hey Marvin!) plopped on the wall when we walked by and looked like it was going to kill us. I took a picture and kept walking...we were scared.

The next dog was not so scary, it was like Scrappy my old dog and was just annoying. The turtle pic is a sign we found for a missing turtle. "Our turtle left our garden two or three days ago. She is about 20 cm long. If you have seen her or catch her can you contact us at -phone numbers- Thanks in advance!"
Pretty cute huh?

Dining hall

Okay, here are some pics from the school and of the dining hall. We get to choose two entrees and a main dish along with a baguette and water. For the water they have glasses and pitchers that you have to fill up and bring to the table. In the picture I took of my tray you see that there is no baguette, that is because I forgot to grab one because I was taking this picture.

The last two pics are the outside of part of the college leading to the dining hall and the inside of on of the three eating areas that compose the dining hall which bears the name (Resto U) pronounced (Resto Ooh).

Some pics from my house

My leg after repetedly falling off my bike (don't worry mom). One night I was texting on my bike and came to a sliding hault just before a curb, another day I was trying out some jumps at a park and got some scratches. The funniest fall was when I was riding on a bike path and smiled at this lady in a Lincoln Navigator and stopped dead due to a poll in the pathway. I snapped my rear brake lever and ripped my shirt, but didn't even get a scratch. Sorry I didn't get a pic of my bike up here.



The sky is the view I have just outside of my window at my homestay.

The toilet is your standard french toilet, no toilet seat and a toilet scrubber because the porcelan here is like super sticky and you need to have the scrubber to avoid certain embarassment.

The next sky pick is the same location but another time of day and the house is the house I am staying in. My window is the lower left hand window. To the right is the driveway and a gate, and behind me is the cool view of the sky you see.

Went to another aquaduct like Le Pont Du Gard, and a walk with my spanish friend

Here are some more pics from around where I live right now. I walked around Castelnau Le Lez, a suburb of Montpellier with Xavi. Then Sunday I went with my host family to an ancient aqueduct from the age of Louis XIV.

The sky and rocky pictures are this little cove/park that Xavi and I found. It was pretty cool and had a great view of the surrounding area.