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Week 5: Internship begins

August 17, 2016 by Morgan Mahony Leave a Comment

Leaving Toulouse was very hard. I was the last American to leave. Everyone left on sat/sun and I stayed until Tuesday. Today I got to my internship and so far it’s a little rocky. I’m at Domaine du Biarnes. The family has a daughter my age that speaks decent English, a mom and dad, 2 cats, a dog, and a donkey.There is a lack of communication because I don’t speak French and they barely speak English, but they are very nice. However, there is also no wifi right now so I also have no communication with the outside world. The farm is beautiful and so are the surroundings. I’m located in Montabaun in the middle of nowhere. The family also doesn’t own a tv or a microwave and overall are very old-school. I’d be lying if I said this month was going to be easy, but I do know I can do it. On the bright side, had the best beer I ever had in my life tonight from Belgium, and watched a movie on their wall with projector.

June 24

Today was long. Woke up at 6:50. Had breakfast at 8( sat around for an hour). Had breakfast with the family(bread with almond paste and jam). Then worked with their daughter Lois on the vineyard for three hours. It was fun actually. Came home for 12:00 to have lunch(leftover pasta from night before recooked…sat on counter overnight….). Also had wine. They then left me for 6 hours alone with a bike and a map. SO I ventured out to the countryside to find a lake. After two hours, thinking I was lost the whole time because she told me it would take me 30 minutes to get there, I finally made it. I never saw so many hills in my life. I also never rode a bike up so many hills in my life…hard stuff. I came home and watched Alice in Wonderland with French subtitles. They didn’t come home until 9:45 and then the daughter and dad at 10:15. The mom was at a market and the other two were at their Jehovah witness meeting. We didn’t eat dinner until 10:30. We had bread, wine, cheese, and tomatoes. Simple, but delicious. The cheese was so fresh and came right from the market. However, eating right before bed is not something I love to do.

June 30

Today was nice. A lot of down time. Started duolingo again and my host family loved it. Also, their friends came for the weekend and they speak great English and also want to learn more so that is really nice to be able to speak to people again. I really don’t know what my job is here or what I’ll be doing. This family doesn’t work much and they never bring me anywhere they go. They kinda just leave me home by myself so I read a lot. I was told I’m learning something new next week so it’s an early weekend for me.

June 31

Today was work free. Had a nice day with my host mom. We made pizza and bread. We had lunch together and read together. She gifted me a book mark that was really pretty and said “here, for you.” The family that stayed with us for the weekend took me for a walk in the woods. Little did I know, we were going mushroom hunting. We also ate the, for dinner. When cutting them up, they all asked me “ Morgan, if snails nibbled at these mushrooms, will you still eat them?” I replied kidding around saying “ of course, just as long as there’s no worms.” They all laughed….. I looked at the plate and worms were crawling in and out….we had this for dinner….. Also, the french family staying with us is SO nice. They have two daughters and really try to speak with me. Tomorrow is Saturday and Lois says we may not work. Also my host mom is really concerned that I have had a cough for a month and is giving me natural essential oils and honey stuff.

 

July1

So yesterday was Saturday and lois and I harvested hay. Then I baked an apple cake with a caramel sauce to surprise the family for dessert. Granted, I did this with celcius, the metric system, and without electric equipment. It was so hard. However, it came out great!!! I had the French licking their plates and it made me so happy. Today I woke up at 6 am to go to the market in Narjac and it was long and boring. But Narjac is a beautiful town with a castle. Also had quality bonding time with my host mom as we sung Milky Chance and Stevey Gonzalez. Now they’re having a “party”.

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Morgan Mahony's Posts

  • Goodbye France
  • Week 7
  • Week 6
  • Week 5: Internship begins
  • Week 4

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