New Huntington Grads Travel to France
Recent Huntington High School graduates, Madeleine Jensen and Laura Dabrowski spent the weeks following the school’s commencement exercises visiting France, where they embraced the food, culture, people and history. The trip made this a summer to remember for the pair.
“My family travels to Ronce-les-Bains (Ronce) to visit our relatives as often as possible,” explained Ms. Jensen. “This year, friends of ours were able to join us for the trip. Laura Dabrowski and I traveled with my mom, my dad, my brother Ben, and his friends David and Arun. David attends Lu High, Arun goes to Stuyvesant, and Ben will be a sophomore at Huntington High School next year.”
Ms. Jensen, who was valedictorian of Huntington’s Class of 2008 and Ms. Dabrowski, one of the top members of the class, are more than best friends. They like to refer to each other as ‘sisters’ and they easily move in sync. “During the summer after our freshman year, Laura and I visited Ronce with our friend Becca, and we have hoped to return ever since,” Ms. Jensen said.
That chance came last month when the pair, along with other members of their traveling party spent three weeks in the small French coastal town southwest of Paris, “immersing ourselves in French culture and the treasures of the region.”
“I love the quiet simplicity of life there, how people ride their bicycles everywhere, how a meal can become an entire event and how the sea is a way of life,” Ms. Dabrowski said. “I learned to take pleasure in the little things like buying bread each morning at the bakery, savoring the colors and sounds of the busy market, and having a satisfying French conversation with a shopkeeper.”
The trip was long anticipated and it met every expectation. “For me, going to Ronce is like going home,” Ms. Jensen said. “I love everything about Charente-Maritime - the unwritten code of hospitality and respect, the traditions, the endless fields of wheat and sunflowers, and the oyster beds that peak out of the water at low tide. I love being able to walk into the boulangerie (bakery) in the morning and have a full conversation with the shop owner while I buy my bread for the day.”
By spending an extended period in the countryside, members of the traveling party were able to experience France as the French do. “There is such beauty in the way the community comes together every morning at the marché, the outdoor market,” Ms. Jensen said. “While purchasing fresh fruits, cheeses, seafood, and bread, the townspeople share a level of personal interaction that is a tradition to be cherished. We wished that we could bottle up the sounds and scents of the marché and bring them home with us!”
The Huntington grads were well-prepared for their journey and what they encountered on it. “Using the French that we learned at Huntington High School and from our independent study, Laura and I were able to hold conversations with everyone we met,” Ms. Jensen said.
“The French are very hospitable people and enjoy engaging in cultural exchanges,” Ms. Dabrowski said. “They taught me that it is these connections that break down language and cultural barriers which make life so varied and exciting.”
“I have never spoken to my cousins as much as I did this trip, and it was very special to overcome the language barrier with them,” Ms. Jensen said. “We ate dinner with them twice and I don’t think we stopped laughing once either time. They are among the kindest, most down-to-earth, and funniest people I have ever met. One of my cousins, Félix, taught us how to ride his moped, and we spent a day working with him in his family’s garden, harvesting potatoes and caring for the tomatoes.”
Ms. Dabrowski hopes to spend a semester studying in either France or Great Britain and a summer taking classes at Jagellonian University in Poland during her college years. She’d like to teach English in Poland during another summer break. Ms. Jensen hopes to get back to France sooner, rather than later, too, to conduct research and to enjoy all the country has to offer.
“We learned a lot about the region and improved our French by speaking to the baker, our neighbors, shop owners, and an ostréiculteur (a person who raises and sells oysters) in La Tremblade, who explained the problems currently facing the oysters younger than two years old, which died in large numbers this year,” Ms. Jensen said. “Oyster farming is a major industry for the region, and IFREMER, a nationally funded laboratory in Ronce, is currently investigating the problem. I have been in contact with the lab over the past year, and I hope to study there in a couple of years.”
During her senior year at Huntington, Ms. Jensen spent seven months conducting research in an exclusive internship at the world-renowned Cold Spring Harbor Lab. It’s more than probable that she could be engaged in research overseas in the not-too-distant future.
The lengthy visit to France opened a unique window on the country. “I found the day-to-day activities most valuable because they made me realize that I could live there,” Ms. Jensen recounted. “We remained close to Ronce for most of our stay, experiencing what it is like to live in the town, as opposed to vacationing there as a tourist. However, we did take a few day-trips.”
The side trips were steeped in history and culture. “We saw Lafayette’s ship, L’Hermione, being reconstructed in Rochefort, which became a naval base in the 17th century,” Ms. Jensen said. “They hope to sail the vessel to the United States in 2012. We also visited Brouage, the citadel from which Samuel Champlain sailed 400 years ago, and went to La Rochelle to see la Tour Saint-Nicholas. Together, we saw our first concert in La Rochelle and welcomed Bastille Day singing along with one of our favorite French artists, Christophe Maé.”
Ms. Jensen, who is headed to Columbia University and Ms. Dabrowski, who will attend Wellesley College in the fall, are two of Huntington High School’s all-time best. The pair gets along exceedingly well and looked forward with great anticipation their post-graduation trip to Europe.
“It was wonderful to share these experiences with Laura, who is truly like a sister to me,” Ms. Jensen said. “She was always ready for the next adventure, whether that meant trying all the strange food we introduced her to, meeting my entire extended family, or jumping into the culture by exploring the area on our own.”
The trip went so well and was so enjoyable that another one is already being planned. “We had an incredible time, and we hope to return to Ronce very soon,” Ms. Jensen said with the spirit of adventure in her voice.
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