Tidbits Continued

There's no school today because of a protest (gooo France!) so I have so time to finish up another post. The protest was actually pretty cool for me because I've never really experienced one in America. Basically, the teachers just don't show up, and the kids go and block the entrance to the school to make a point. Then everyone hangs out outside and talks or plays soccer. I still don't know exactly what they were protesting about, but it was kinda fun to see anyway. So I thought I'd add a few more things to the list of French tidbits:
28. Time is kept in 24 hour format
29. There are tons of Pharmacies here.
30. At school, people hardly ever use pencils. It's almost always pens, even in math.
31. They eat yougurt a lot more often (yes, cheese too)
32. The school lunches are bigger than in the U.S. (at my school anyways). Here's what my lunch is like in the cantine: First you scan your student card into a little machine that spits a receipt that you have to give to the lunch ladies. Next you take a few slices of bread from two huge bins. The bread goes on the tray, not on a plate. Then you take a appetizer, usually a vegtable/pasta/salad item.  They also have different cheeses, yougurt, and fruit which you can choose from. And a dessert of course, which can be anything from ice cream, pudding, and pastries to packaged chocolate-covered waffles. The main dish always has some type of meat/fish and a pasta/rice/grain. You then get your silverware and fill up your glass from a faucet in the lunchroom. When you're finished, you take your tray into a little room and sort out your silverware (its real, not plastic) and plate to be washed. The food is pretty good usually, even though the kids complain about it. If only they had American school food!
On a completely different subject, I got to go out and visit my host mom's family out in the country side this weekend. The lunch was great, with all sorts of appetizers and then sausage from the BBQ. For dessert we had little pastries from the local Patisserie and a Tarte aux ..something.. that my host sister made. I even got to cruise around the counrtyside on my host cousin's motorcross bike, which was really awesome. We got home pretty late because of all the traffic, but it was worth it.
A bien tot!
-Lauren