Madame Flynn reflects on her favorite memories of this trip with these 10 amazing students.
As I sit on the plane back to Boston now, I’m thinking about just how many meaningful memories these ten amazing students shared in their time in France. Starting the trip off three and a half weeks ago, we were excited to get to know each other more, learn from shared experiences, and explore the French culture and language. One thing that really surprised me was that I was not expecting to laugh SO much. I want to share a few of my favorite memories with this group that particularly highlights how much fun we had together.
Diving into the Mediterranean together:
This being our second day in Marseille and us still being a bit jet-lagged, we took on the Calanques. We hiked up with picnic lunches in our backpack on the French coast. As we took in the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean, we joked with each other – sharing French tongue twisters, corny jokes, and learning new phrases like “boire en wifi” – “waterfall a drink” for those who accidentally already drank all of their water. On our descent, we found a place to swim and suddenly realized that some of us forgot bathing suits (myself included)! What I admired so much about this group was just how care free we were. In lieu of bathing suits, students and teachers jumped in the water to refresh in our clothes. This was probably one of the first moments where we leaned into the energy from the group and literally dived right in.
A culture of sharing meals:
Every day in Arles, we divided ourselves in two groups and tried out different restaurants around the city. This is where conversations flowed from talking about favorite contestants on reality TV shows, to zodiac signs and daily horoscopes, to the best tiramisu in Arles. So many moments in these lunches led to laughter. As we shared conversation on various topics, I saw students testing out their classmates’ meals and connecting over their shared meal. A culture of sharing bites and sips from what they ordered was quickly created in this group. After each first bite that a student would eat, they would immediately acknowledge how delicious it was and quickly offer a taste up to the rest of the table.
Final soirée in Arles:
As our last night in Arles, Arles à la carte put on a soirée for students to come with their host families, eat dinner, and commemorate such a job well done in the program. The night started with an apero, where I saw students introducing their host families to their friends, mingling with teachers, and playing Uno with students from the nearby lycée. A mini concert with Charles playing the piano followed, where he played a piece he practiced just a bit before performing. After, students received their certificates of completion of the program from members of Arles à la carte teachers. Each presentation of the certificate was personalized and highlighted each students’ accomplishments and an individual part to their story in Arles. Dinner followed, where students returned to conversations with host families, teachers, and peers.
Our festin on the Seine:
This is a night that I will remember forever. It was the most perfect way to end such a perfect trip together. In lieu of going to a restaurant, we opted to stopping at Monoprix and stocking up on picnic groceries. We created teams to break up the shopping – Nyeema and Iris in charge of the desserts, Philip and Charles in charge of the fromage, Simona and Robert in charge of the meat/salty, Blaze and Emmett in charge of the fruit, and Ruth and Emily in charge of the drinks. We had ourselves a real festin with what we got. We continued down to the Eiffel Tower and found the most picturesque spot on the Seine, directly across from the Eiffel Tower to sit-down and share one last meal together.
These are the moments that will stick with me when I think of this group of students, and also Deerfield once I move on from working here. I hope that, and know in my heart, that these students will look back on this experience not only for the opportunity to strengthen their language skills, but more importantly to remember how much joy and fun they had in each other’s company. Throughout this trip, I kept thinking to myself how unforgettable and special of an opportunity this is for these students at this age. Many don’t get the opportunity for a language immersion until much later in life. It is not an easy experience, as it takes a lot of resilience and full commitment. I am so proud of this group for the way that they really dived right in and embraced everything together.
Thank you to you all for such an amazing trip!
