Pret for la Fete

After the afternoon milking, the city held a Fete (French for party) in our honor. Starting at 7, we gave a brief presentation on our work in the city and appreciation of their acceptance. Then we went over to the indoor Pelota court for aparitif (think fingerfood), then meat(sausage, lamb, and thick cut bacon) on the grill. Then we sat around talking. I will include a travelers tip here: listen all the way until people stop talking when you ask what's in the bottle they're holding because L'eau=water, L'eau de vie= grappa. This minor blunder aside, the party continued with dancing, singing, limbo, skinning rabbits, and Pelota until 5 AM. T
I feel like up until now I've neglected to mention the French Students: through most of this experience there have been 7 talented master level historical ecology students with us. The three weeks we spend here are the beginning of a prolonged partner university program between the university of Pau and UGA. Step 2 is going to be their month long visit to UGA in Mid-august. We were sad to leave them on Friday but the beach town of Saint John de Luz beckoned.