Rugby

So last night Derek, Alison, Christine, Caitlin and I went to a pub to watch the big France-Ireland rugby match. It was the first time I've ever gone to a bar/pub, so it was definitely an experience. Derek is a bartender while he's in school, so he has thus far been our go-to guy for beverage choices (which basically means at dinners he's told us what kind of wine we've been served and laughs at us when we don't like it). So we all sat down, asked for a menu, and turned to Derek. Alison and Caitlin got peach kirs, which is peach syrup and white wine. I turned to him and asked if he'd be mad at me if I got a coke, which he said he would, but I decided to face his wrath, especially when Christine ordered a coca lite. Derek's host mom is also hosting a student from..not sure where. His name is Fi, he came out with us too. Derek said he's way into sports. He was wearing a soccer jersey, which some Irish guy stopped and told him was the wrong sport. Oh well.

Anyway, we got our drinks and a table right underneath the tv (my neck is still sore!). It turned out to be an awesome match. There were several Irish men in the pub, which was nice because for once we weren't the loud obnoxious ones. The trick is, rugby has now ruined me for American football. We are such wusses compared to these guys! They seriously run the medic out, have him take a towel to mop the blood off the guy, all in the middle of the field where they keep on going. It was awesome. Right before half-time the girls and I went over to the gelateria next door and bought some gelato. I got strawberry and peach, and the girl made it look like a flower, it was so pretty! I was afraid to eat it, but don't worry, I did. It was really good too! Alison and Christine both got Nutella, which was amazing, and Caitlin got mint. Anyway we headed back to the boys to watch the second half. France scored their first actual goal (instead of just kicking) and everybody went crazy. About that time two very drunk French men came in and started singing the refrain from White Stripes over and over and over and over and over again. It was really funny, as was the wife of the man standing next to us. She was sitting outside smoking her cigarettes, shaking her head at her husband. She and I had a moment after an especially loud refrain, one of those, oh boys kind of things.

The funny thing was, we just picked a place at random (I think, it was actually Derek's choice) but we ran into over a dozen other IES student there! A bunch of them were upstairs watching the match the whole time. Alison went with some of them at the end of the night to go to a discotheque, but I decided to call it an evening. We (Derek, Fi, Christine and I) walked Caitlin home, then caught one of the night buses. Christine lives right next to Derek and Fi, I'm about a fifteen minute walk away. Derek walked me home, then stayed for a little bit to talk. Its been really great finding a group of people here who I feel so comfortable with, and who have been really supportive. This isn't an easy thing, leaving home, your family and your friends, but I've got a really wonderful support system here between my awesome host family and my friends.

Tonight we had dinner with another family, Kara and her host parents. It was really fun. Crazy thing is, she knows Matt Langston, one of my friends at Wartburg. The two of them went to high school together. We were good and didn't speak English until we broke off into the salon. Here were the courses for dinner:
1. Bread and some sort of regional pate
2. Pasta with mushrooms, and a fish plate (and the first glass of red wine I've actually liked)
3. Cheese and bread
4. Vanilla ice cream with melted chocolate
5. Tea
So basically, we sat down to start eating at 9:00, and only just now finished. Before dinner, my dad and I took a bike ride around the river, which took us past TWO castles. They (the French) are very nonchalant about them, but holy cow!! Two castles, just like that!