My Third Week in Rennes

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Monday 6/29

For dinner the Cirefe program held an event where all of the students met for dinner at a creperie. For 8โ‚ฌ we had cidre, a galette with cheese, ham, and egg, and for dessert a hazelnut crepe.

Wednesday 7/1

Mercredi au Thabor. The Cirefe organized another event that consisted of going as a group to the park to dance and listen to traditional Breton music. There were lots of games and food to partake in. For a Wednesday night, it was a pretty joyous affair.

Friday 7/3

Went on an excursion with the school. Our second field trip consisted of heading to the Brocรจliand Forest which was about an hour away from Rennes. I loved that it was full of different legends and fairy tales. It was famous because people travel there from all over the world to visit Merlins tombs, hundreds of stone sculptures, a wishing rock, the fountain of youth, the fountain of lovers, and a fairy lake. It was a very unique hike that lasted all day. A lot of views were quite breathtaking and I felt it was truly a magical experience. One highlight of the day was that while hiking, I accidentally tripped on a log and fell into a hole which was quite embarassing as I did that in front of the entire group.

Saturday 7/4

For the 4th of July I began my day doing my grocery shopping at the market. Then later I visited the Tombee de la Nuit which was a three day festival that lasted all weekend. There were performers, music, dancers, and lots of activities people could participate in. Then later that night, we all went to a Korean restaurant. Since we had to grill our own meat, we joked that it was the closest thing to having a barbecue on Independence day. It was my second time ever spending Indepence Day in a foreign country and it felt weird being that there was nothing we could really do to commemorate the occassion.

Marisa Vickers

Bonjour! My name is Marisa Vickers and I am currently a twenty-eight year old senior that is majoring in International Relations at Texas State University. Thanks to FEA, this summer I will be studying abroad for one month in France at the University of Rennes. I am extremely excited for this opportunity because I hope to improve my French speaking abilities and submerge myself in the French culture. I have chosen this program because I was particularly inspired by my experience volunteering and interning with a non-profit that services refugees from all over the world. After helping many of those families, I realized that with proper communication, the world can seem less large if we all take the time to try and understand one another. Thus, upon graduation, my dream is to continue my work in the humanitarian sector by directly assisting those in need. If possible, I would like to focus my career on French speakers from African countries, as they contain a large number of refugees, including many of which are oppressed women and children. These issues are of great concern to me, and I believe that in order to be impactful in my chosen occupational path, I must do all I can to achieve a masterly level of fluency of the French language. Even though I am a first generation, bi-racial student that is married to an Army veteran, I have always been determined to complete my education regardless of any circumstance. I know that by studying abroad, it will be a wonderful step for me to someday take these developed skills and pay it forward by aiding those in need.