France

Each student has a unique and individual experience on their Experiment program. The following essay is a single glimpse into a program from one student's perspective.

Consuelo Gonzales -- Southern France and Northern Spain -- From the Basque Country to Catalonia (FRHD)

Playing in my stereo right now is the French CD I bought just minutes before my fellow Experimenters and I were to board the plane that would return us to our anxious families in the US. Much to my mother's distaste, the music is somewhat loud, however I argue that it is crucial to this writing process-I close the door to my room, and return to the page in front of me: it's still blank.

For some reason my thoughts flash back to during the school year in French class, remembering the numerous instances when we would listen to certain French songs as a class. Looking back, I find it rather funny how I would hear the belted chorus sung by Edith Piaff, or Jean-Jacques Goldman, and yet I would leave class untouched by this brief experience and by the time I reached the end of the hall, though it is sad to admit, this sampling of culture was already forgotten. The indifference that I once felt when I heard these songs, I believe was caused by my lack of a connection with the French language. I could pinpoint key verbs and adjectives in each song, but it was a stretch to try to decode the song's meaning, thus instead of taking that extra step towards understanding a little more about the French language and culture, I opted for a somewhat distant relationship.

This provincial outlook was quickly reversed on day one of the Experiment, mainly because I was experiencing, not through a textbook or a copied handout, but first hand, what the culture and language were like. And it was the diverse people, the smell of a nearby boulangerie, the historic monuments-it all surrounded me as I had never imagined before, and in turn amounted to create such a positive energy that awakened my desire to want to absorb everything within sight. Being in this foreign environment, thousands of miles away from home, forced me to drop the distancing barrier, and welcome the infinite experiences the Experiment could afford me.

At the beginning of the Experiment, I remember how I had wondered how I would make it through a month in a foreign country, for I had never been away from home for that amount of a time. Yet once the trip was winding down, I yearned for another couple of weeks, for one month had gone by too fast. As the plane began to leave the ground, flying higher in the air and farther and farther away from France, dull pains tugged at my insides. I recognized these pains for I had experienced them at the beginning of the trip when I missed home, yet now that I look back, I can identify that these pains weren't for my home in the states, instead they were for my newfound home in Biarritz, France.

Every time I listen to the French CD that is playing in my stereo, my thoughts instantly go back to when I first met my host family. After exiting the train, I saw their smiling faces, and for some reason all the French I had learned had disappeared from my brain for several minutes. Yet my host family was so welcoming and accommodating, that it really didn't take too long for me to feel comfortable enough to speak, and quickly the fragmented French I knew came back to me. I didn't think it was possible to be touched so greatly by a group of individuals who don't even speak the same language as I do. Instantly, I became attached to them, for they welcomed me into their house and most importantly, into their family.

No matter how many times I listen to the CD that is presently playing, each time I am overtaken by a wave of nostalgia, and numerous snapshots of my trip cloud my thoughts, and for a while I just sit and reminisce. The countless experiences I encountered during this trip are memories that only I can claim ownership over, and have vowed to keep by my side for the rest of my life, for after this summer I became a new person. This program gave me the chance to experience the world by myself, and in turn gain new insight, ideas, and the feeling of belonging to a foreign culture, that now doesn't seem so foreign to me after all.