McGrovin

Salut tout monde! Here I am again to finish telling you the odyssey of the McDaniel Grovers. When we las left off our heroes had just bonded, and had 6 days left to fulfill their mission... ok, I can't write this as an epic story, it gives a sarcastic tone to one of the most memorable weeks of my life. We woke up on wednesday looking forward to the only thing that could be looked forward to all week, the dodgeball tournament. We had set our minds to winning this thing since we weren't succeeding in others, to say the least. This day I met Jake Lane, the biggest guy of our city, along with some other guys that were pretty chill too. We defeated our opponents one by one, and by noon, we were the crowned champions of the tournament. As our prize we received a pizza party later on thursday night, which we thoroughly enjoyed with chicken wings and pranks on the counselors.

Soon the week ended and we began to pack on Friday night. One thing my father says is that in all trips something always goes wrong. And once again, his words proved true. We were all standing around the hall joking, exchanging info, when, suddenly, one genius decided to run down the hall with a mattress. We all saw it coming, and told our friend Ray Fernandez, a corner tackle for his football team, to well, tackle him. As 5'9" 157 lb. Corey Duncan ran across the hall with a mattress, 6'2" 221 lb. Ray Fernandez charged at him with the right shoulder dropped. What happen next was either the best tackle I've ever seen or the most disturbing charge that lifted a boy off the floor and made him land on his head. After all the medical procedures had been taken to check for concussions or other injuries, he turned out to be ok, with a chipped tooth. And that is how my week at Florida American Legion Boys State ended. We had fun, we bonded, we made history, and we sure as hell are glad to have gone.

McDaniel Grovers

Bonjour tous les lecteurs! I was gone for a few weeks to Florida State University in Tallahassee. As some of you may know, I was taking week-long college classes, sponsored by a program known as American Legion Boys State. It is a group formed by veterans, whose desire is to instill Americanism and moral values in the heart of many young men around Florida. My day began early two Saturdays ago, going to the Alliance to work the café for a couple of hours. Soon After I had to finish some packing, and leave for the American Legion Post, where we would rendez-vous with the bus. It was a long bus ride, and unfortunately the driver didn't help much. It got to a point where he asked us where I-95 was! After a slumber-less night and a drudging walk around the campus attempting to get to Kellum Hall, we finally found it.

It took a while for my roommate to register and for a moment I thought something had finally turned out right, I had a room to myself! After a long hot shower though, I met him as he was walking into the room with very large luggage. We immediately clicked, since both of us play the same position in soccer, share the same faith, and liked the same music. To be honest, i thought he was going to be my only friend the whole week, since most of the other kids i had seen registering seemed a bit odd. My mind was completely changed after our first city meeting.

Each floor was divided in two, and each half made a city. Together they formed a county, and 9 counties formed the entire Florida Boys State. My city was McDaniel Grove, in Navy County. It may seem boastful to say that our city had the most legitimate boys in the whole program, but not saying it, would take away the candidness of the situation. I soon met some of the guys on our city, and found out how well I could relate to most of them. We all had great stories to tell from each of our hometowns; like Stephen Beutler, who knew a lot of people from around Florida, or Mark Calhoun (my roommate), who had gone to round of sixteenths for the u-17 soccer state championship, or Eric Miller, who would rap with me most of Drakes biggest hits, acapella. David Nolan, who was secretly an artist, as well as a prankster. After 48 hours living together, we were more than a city, we had become a band of brothers that came to be known as the McDaniel Grovers.

Finally a break!

So for the past few days I had been working, but finally got a break this holiday weekend. In a way its going to be a bittersweet week since i would be finishing my first session at the Alliance. However, my very nice co worker Ambre is leaving for Argentina for 3 weeks, and then returning to France. Unfortunately, for her internship, she is obliged to write an 80 word essay. She couldn't believe that all we had to do were these wall posts and powerpoint presentations. The second session of the children summer camp is about to start as well, in which, hopefully, I will be more involved in. Many of the children from the first session will be returning, as well as some new ones.

As far as the cultural events go, the opening art show of Papaloko was a major success despite the rain and the unpleasant weather. Although I will not be here for the 14th of July, I have been told to help with the preparations for that day. From contacting different performers to preparing the bar and beverages, I will be doing a large part of this work in conjunction with Ambre; however, she has been very busy with the private lessons and her paper, so I believe i will be taking a larger role than in previous events. Fortunately enough, a new intern is coming in on the 12th to replace Ambre. I'm really hoping she catches on quick and is ready for all the activity that is to be done on this holiday. That's all for now, and , like always, salut tout les amis!

So a few weeks have gone by now and I finally have some time to breathe and write these posts. I can't imagine that if this is just an internship, what a real job must be like. Thankfully, although its been hard work, the experience has paid off. Recently, I began to work in the cafe my internship site hosts. I was introduced to the different types of wines that exist and what major cities in France they come from. One of the most famous is Bordeaux, and is located near the southwestern area of France. Another very important beverage is coffee. One would be surprised how much coffee is prepared and consumed in a French environment. If America runs on Dunkin, then France flies on it.

I have also spent some time overseeing the children taking classes there. I had seen them come in without a hint of french in their little mouths, but now, they are asking me questions in french! The methods their instructors use are very different from the standard pedagogical used in elementary schools. You see, the children learn through dancing, reading, making music and art. The teachers speak to them the basic french that they learned the first week, and along the way teach them new vocabulary words and phrases that are related to the field they are currently working in.

On an unfortunate note to end this post, I recently found out that i will be absent for the much celebrated Bastille Day or National holiday of France. It is due to my obligation to assist American legion boys state. It's a bitter sweet moment I'm going through right now, but luckily enough i assisted last year's event and have an idea of how the celebration will be held. C'est tout pour l'instant, et à bientôt!!!!!!

Les deux premieres semaines

Bonjour ma chère famille de MAST, I’m going to tell you a little about my first two weeks here at l’Alliance:

As I walked into the door, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say on my first day. You see, although my internship is here in America, the experience is an international one. In these short days I’ve spent here, I have already met at least fifteen people all from different French-speaking nationalities. From teachers from the French Reunion (a small French island off the coast of Madagascar) and Algeria, to Haitian folklore and music, to meetings with members of the Consulat Français, my internship is definitely an astounding episode of my last year in MAST.

One of my colleagues with whom I work closely is Ambre Arnold. She is a mademoiselle who is studying political science. Talking to her, I’ve learned a little more about the young French cultures. She told be that back in Lyon, France, the youth is very different from here, mostly referring to how it is bizarre that here, in America, teens are allowed to drive before they are able to drink. Another one of my colleagues, Laurent Chaussade, who is currently vacationing in Europe, is from La Réunion Française. This unknown, small, overseas French region is home to the Panther Chameleon and to 800,000 natives, all who enjoy this mesmerizing and vivid island.

Last Sunday we had a very important cultural event called La Fête de la Musique. It is an event in many countries, in all continents, to celebrate and welcome the beginning of summer. Here at the Alliance, we celebrated it on June 20^th, although traditionally it is celebrated on June 21^st. I will speak a little more about this event and some other cultural experiences the day of the power point presentation. This is as much I can divulge, stay tuned for more, and for now à tout à l’heure!