Having
lived in France, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United States, Valérie
Benoist, professor of Spanish here at Grinnell College, has had diverse
international experiences and identifies as a tri-cultural person. She is
currently on leave and living in France on the border of Spain with her husband
and son while she writes her book, which focuses on the representation of
Blackness in the biographies and autobiographies of three XVIth to XVIIIth
century Black nuns of Spain and its colonies (Mexico and Peru, in particular).
These three women were able to break the rule that Black women were not allowed
to become nuns in colonial Spanish-America, so Professor Benoist is interested
in the construction of Blackness in these three spiritual narratives. One of
the main reasons Professor Benoist and her husband chose to move to France,
where her parents and brother live, was to give their son the experience of
living in France and learning French at a young age, and to make it possible
for him to see his grandparents more often.
Valérie Benoist has lived and
studied in France, Mexico, and the United States, but has now lived half her
life in the United States, which makes returning to life in France for a year,
especially as an adult rather than a teenager, a learning experience. One of the
greatest differences she sees between life in the United States and life in
France is the way relaxation and family time are valued. In France, there is a
much greater focus on time spent with family and relaxing. Elementary school
children do not have class between noon and 2 p.m., so they often go home to
eat lunch with their families. Most businesses often close during this time as
well. This is in sharp contrast to the United States, where sayings like, “Time
is money” are common and there is a huge emphasis on work.
It
might be expected that adjustment to life in France would be a greater
challenge for Valérie Benoist’s son, who didn’t speak French before moving to
France this summer. However, he, like the rest of the family, is adjusting very
well to life in France. Professor Benoist attributes a lot of the ease of this
adjustment to the extremely helpful people they have encountered and the speedy
and painless process of establishing phone lines, bank accounts, school registration,
and the like they have faced. Although her son is the only non-French speaker
in his class, the teacher assigned to work with him has had a lot of experience
working with non-French speaking students and has designed a plan to help him
adjust to the school. This extra assistance combined with her son’s involvement
in Judo and soccer have made his transition go far more smoothly. Overall,
Valérie Benoist and her family are adjusting well and enjoying the slower pace
of life, the people, the food, and the warmer climate of France.
We
will also be hearing from Valérie Benoist’s husband, Andy Mobley, professor of
chemistry here at Grinnell College, in a few weeks!
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