Sunday 10/9: My first Rugby match!

After I had digested my breakfast (a croissant with nutella), I took the dog for a run. Today I woke up to sun, which was marvelous after the last few days of grey skies and rain. So, I figured it would be the perfect time to explore more of the woods! I took (more or less) the same route, but went a little farther on the path that runs along the highway. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention and tripped over a root that was sticking up in the path. Boom! I was down and face-to-face with a very surprised dog. I just scraped my knee, but I made sure to pay better attention to the path after that! We ran for 35 minutes (with two stops at the chin-up bar), then headed home.

When I got home, I cooled off and then cleaned my room. I spent a little time working on plans for my trip to the UK over Oct break, then went downstairs to eat lunch with Catherine and Margot.

Catherine mentioned that she and Ralf were planning to go to Tyrosse’s first home rugby game of the season. She asked if I’d like to accompany them—of course! I’ve never been to a game (even though they had both men’s and women’s rugby at WOU), so I was interested to experience it live. Especially since it’s so popular in this part of France.

Photo: Tyrosse's colors: Blue and Red!

The game was at the stadium (about 3 mins by car from our house) and it cost 10€ to get in. The actual seats cost more, but we just went to where people stand next to the field. It was really interesting—most people weren’t actually there to watch the game. Yes, they occasionally checked the score, but mostly they just hung out and talked, smoked, and drank beer. It was excellent! Everyone knew each other and the rugby was just a good excuse for them to get out and see their neighbors and friends.

I met a lot of people and also spent some time actually watching the game. A lot of it went over my head (rule-wise), but overall I enjoyed it. It seemed more interesting than American Football—I appreciate that they’re only allowed to tackle the guy with the ball. It’s less violent that way. ;)

My favorite part was when a group of subs for our team—all wearing bright orange vests (like road construction workers)—jogged down to one end of the field to warm up while the game was going. They were warming up for a minute or so when three of them ran to the edge of the field, jumped the fence, and started peeing on the bushes. Just like that. In front of the entire crowd. There was absolutely nothing subtle about it—and no one cared! Yep, I had a good laugh trying to imagine that happening at an OSU Beavers game…

After the game, we hung around chatting for an hour and a half. By then we had headed into the bar (located under the stands), which was really, really loud and smoky. Yes, smoky. Technically people are no longer allowed to smoke in public places (restaurants, train stations, bars, etc.) in France, but sometimes they just do it anyway.

So, since it was now 6:10pm and I had planned a skype date with my parents for 6:30pm, I decided to just walk home. I was starting to get a headache from the smoke and noise, so it was a good time to head out. I had a nice walk home (only about 10 minutes) and a good chat with my parents. It was the first time we’ve skyped since I arrived in Tyrosse and it was good to catch up!

We had pasta for dinner (Ralf and I had pesto, the other four had meat and tomato sauce) while watching the news. Tonight we saw some footage of the Occupy Wall Street protests. They showed some other cities (Chicago, Houston), but not Portland. I told my host family that my neighbor, Gregg, had attended Occupy Portland and that the movement was spreading all over the country. I don’t know if they realize how unusual it is to have this kind of a widespread protest in the US—it happens weekly in France!