Happy Thursday! I can not believe that it's the 16th of .. June?!? Yeesh, time flies. I've been having quite the experience here in France. Before I left for this internship, I didn't know what to expect and now? I still don't know what to expect - someone else is doing all of the scheduling for me! (And I send great gratitude to those people - Jerome and Nicolas as well as others). It's nice living my life day by day here, not exactly sure what to expect the next day. And it's also nice to have someone else cook instead. Granted, I don't always cook at home - Sean, Dad, Mom, etc(thank you all) - but I do it enough to appreciate when someone else shops for the food and cooks. I feel in this world we sometimes forget to appreciate what others do and especially how much they've put into what they give - time, work, money, love, and the more; make sure that other's know that you are thankful by verbally saying so. Otherwise, we assume and, as a results, others feel used - unappreciated. Also (for those who have become open with God), don't forget to thank Him too - He was the one to create this world you know .. and everything in it - past, present, and future. Ps - Father's day is coming up.
Okay, I'm not here to lecture you, but to tell you about my life in France. Tuesday was my busiest day here so far; I milked the cows twice, helped feed all of the animals, did some lifting, lots of walking, and all retrieved the cows. For the milking, Jean-Michel's mother comes to help; she is short, stout, and strong, but sweet. Jean-Michel's father works with the plants(corn, hay, barley, etc); he doesn't like working with the animals too much. It turns out that there are several trees next to the farm that grow truffles- and I'm not talking about chocolate. Truffles are a type of expensive mushroom that can be shaved on top of food, like parmesan cheese. I believe they can't be harvested until the trees grow much larger, wherein you can then dig for the mushrooms. Yesterday I didn't do too much work on the farm. Isabelle let me sleep in because I wasn't feeling so well(I'm still a little sick, but now I think I'm losing my voice). Also, the children (in primary school) don't have school on Wednesdays, so we did a lot of playing and hanging around while mom and dad did some work. Esteban(son) was in the tractor with his father and Ines(daughter) was with me and her mother. Ines calls me her big sister and I call her my little sister; she and Esteban want a big sister, but that's impossible to ask of their dear mommy, so they've got a temporary one. But that's a problem ... Isabelle told me today that she wants me to stay for a much longer time and that she doesn't want me to leave the children, especially Ines who is becoming very attached. Why do I have to live in another country, and so far away?? I told her that in the future, I will try to come back. (I just need to find the money, time, etc)
Anyway, for lunch, we had Isabelle's brother over wherein she made a delicious salad with lettuce, bologna, cheese, eggs, balsalmic vinagarette, and who know what else. We also had some BBQ'd chicken with boiled potatoes and the tarte aux pommes (apple tart) that Ines, Isabelle, and I had made. (The food here is really delicious- Isabelle cooks to the taste and never measures anything; she is a really good cook.) Later in the afternoon, Ines and I retrieved the cows for milking, wherein she then "milked the cows with us"; she's too small to actually milk the cows so she did some mini side jobs.
Today, Jean-Michel had a meeting to go to and the farm work was at a minimum; two milkings and preparing a full 500 kilo bag of shredded wheat. For "shredding" (proper term?) of the wheat, someone switches on the machine, the wheat falls and fills a metal bin, and then goes through the shredder and comes out through the bottom. We were shoveling and filling buckets, emptying the buckets of wheat into the bag, and surveying the metal bin to avoid overload. I found it to be very fun! Around 10am, we left to do some food shopping, get a cell phone fixed, and stop at the Vet for a certain cow product(?). After we dropped the food off, we went to the mall! I didn't end up buying anything, but Isabelle purchased a pair of pants, perfume, face products, and a father's day gift for Jean-Michel. I ended up getting a few free trials of perfume after we left the perfume/make-up store; I was even given a mini trial bottle of Chanel #5. I don't really wear perfume, but nonetheless I have to say that it's still pretty cool. Lastly, for dinner we had rice with fish and French mushrooms with a creamy delicious sauce that I was planning to make in the future. I am saying "was planning" because it turns out that one of the ingredients comes from a container that is probably not sold in the U.S. So much for another good recipe to add to my book!
Well it is officially 10:00 and tomorrow I am going to be working with David and Sebastian again. We're going to visit a farm that has this very expensive milking technology that enables the cows to be milked by a robot, except in a rotating circle! Once I put pictures up, it will be more clear.
Bonne nuit! (Good night!)
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