only 2 weeks left!!!

Wow, I can't believe we are down to 2 weeks -- this time has FLOWN by!

It's been nice here in Ambialet, we've had class and also had a lot of free time to ourselves. A couple of the students took a trip this weekend; some went to Barcelona and 2 went to Corsica. However, I decided to stay here and get some work done and enjoy Ambialet!

Two days ago, Tim took us on a little adventure! We saw two of the most beautiful towns in France -- Monesties & Najac. Monesties was pretty tiny and pretty unique. Najac was a bit bigger and had ruins of a chateau. We were able to go inside the chateau and we climbed the whole way to the tallest tower! It's so cool to say I've been in some pretty old castles!.. Oh and the trek up to the castle is FOREVER long! haha It was a nice day out though & we learned one thing especially -- the French LOVE their bocci! haha

We've had some oookay weather -- we get some sun and nice days, but there always seems to be at least an hour's worth of rain in there! Yesterday Owen and I took off for a little exploring -- we ended up hiking up this huge hill/mountain. It had a wonderful view and we were able to get some great photos of Ambialet; however, I won't be able to post them yet because I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet! haha But, on the way back we decided to make a couple different stops to see some things we've heard about -- like a 14th century stone cross that is still standing here today! We also chose to go the long way back, and just as we start up the hill it starts POURING! We made the best of it though and I think it made the walk up the hill go a little faster.

Last night we had some company for dinner! There were a group of 6 guys who came and played their horns for us. They were really good & it wasn't like any horn I've seen before. They just use their breathing capabilities to make the sounds, there are no valves or anything. It was really entertaining. Also, there are a lot of people who own homes in Ambialet, but they only come during vacations and summer. So, there is a couple down the road and he has a twin brother. They are actually the brothers that played the trumpet at Easter mass. They also joined us for dinner and we had a little fun with them afterwards! Since they are English, they pride themselves on their drinking. We challenged them to a couple drinking games! haha We decided to teach them flip cup and they didn't like it because they said there wasn't enough drinking involved. So they taught us one and it was basically a game of who could chug faster. Let me just say, that I'll stick to the American games! haha And I think I can speak for all of us! They had to leave after the game because they were waking up VERY early to head back home. They were a lot of fun and really nice people!

Other than hanging out and doing some work, I've been trying to see as much of Ambialet as possible. Owen and I just take random walks and see where we go. Everything is so beautiful and so serene. There are so many wonderful views, especially of the monastery!

We have a lot planned for the next 2 weeks and I think it'll be a great way to end it. We're going to start barbecuing outside and help plan the Springfest at the University in Albi! As for today, I'm going to enjoy some barbeque, do some homework and maybe explore Ambialet some:)