Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday

Its funny because we were always taught in French class that Mardi Gras was a major holiday in France, and to be honest, it didn't seem like it was. Most of our professors talked to us about what Mardi Gras was and the traditions behind it. Of course first and foremost its the eve of Lent (le carême). The tradition in France is to get Crepes. We decided this was a very good choice and decided to follow that advice.

So yesterday was Mardi Gras and we went out for crepes. They were amazing. It was a tad bit expensive, but then again it was the very first time that we had gone to an actual sit down restaurant. It was quite refreshing. I had a galette for my dinner which is buckwheat, filled with goat cheese, sauteed onions, and poitrine fumee. Although i'm not exactly sure what kind of meat that was it was quite delicious. I longed to have another, but at the same time one galette is quite filling and we still had dessert to wait for. For dessert i got a crepe with mint ice-cream on it and melted chocolate. Needless to say I was quite satisfied when I had finished. I'm pretty sure this is a place that I will take my folks to in a few weeks when they're here. We finished off the night be going to our usual tuesday event Mardi Cafe (organized by the school to meet other students). It was actually quite successful because i talked with a few Japanese girls from my classes and go to know them a little better.

Today, however, is Ash Wednesday (le mecredi des cendres). I found a church close to where I live that I'm gonna to go to mass at tonight at 8 pm. I'm a little nervous about it, even though it is a Catholic mass, it'll be in French and I honestly don't know the words. But I'm going to try and follow along to be best of my ability. I am at a loss though for what I should do for lent; usually I give up something I enjoy (t.v., sweets, etc) but here thats hard to do. First i don't watch t.v., I hardly ever eat meat, and if I were to give up sweets and wine I would really be missing out here. I'm only in France to study once.... So I don't know what I should do. Just by being here I'm trying to develop as a person and get out of my comfort zone so I'm already doing things that I'm not normally at home such as being more outgoing, willing to try new things, optimistic, not worry as much, etc. And once it warms up I'm going to run. I know lent is a time of sacrifice, but my lifestyle here is so different from back home, that I have no idea what I should do...

Love to all