Drinking with the Locals
My weekend began on friday evening, when I went to a birthday party of one of the BTS kids. [note: the BTS program is the post-Bacc program, like a professional college, for hotel and cooking. These are the students I've mentioned who are older, and whom I socialize with. I'm explaining this only so that I can use BTS in the future. It's easier.]I knew I was in trouble when I walked into the apartment. Some Slipknot was playing loudly on the stereo, and 8 or so kids were sitting in a circle on the ground, playing Quarters. Hell, I never even played Quarters in college. It feels strange and almost sad to start playing with one's students. Obviously, since it is in France, it's not quarters -- rather, "A Game!" and the students told me. Also, instead of drinking large plastic cups of beer, they were using glasses of wine. I'm completely serious, too -- a nice muscat. I had to drink one -- only once, thank god -- and the kids erupted in song. Some special drinking song, with hand movements!
At another point, several bottles of champagne were passed around, for people to drink straight from the bottle. I passed, but someone said, "You must have some! It is a specialty of the Jura!" That reason alone gives a green light to nearly anything around here. Keeping grandma's body in the basement? Specality of the Jura! Training squirells to reinact the Battle of Troy? Specality of the Jura!
An hour later, the party had gone from 'Fun and Almost Rowdy" to "Broken Chairs", so I took off with the two least-drunk people there. Well, I was the least-drunk person there, by being not drunk at all, so I accompanied two less-drunk people. We went to another boy's apartment, where he first played a little Dreamtheater (metal opera...), then played his own guitar (Iron Madien...). I got home around 2, NOT AT ALL excited to get up at 7 in order to pack.
Thank god I did, though, because I had a really, really nice weekend. A weekend like I had imagined before I even came here. A weekend that makes me want to buy a little house in the mountains and live here until I can speak french like a real back-woods Jurassien girl.
A regional speciality!
posted by kelly @ 10:45 AM
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