Dans trois semaines…
Since the last time I wrote I feel a lot better about this month. Like I said I started class in level six monday and at first people were saying that levels five and six aren’t that much different, but to me they seem a lot different. Everyone in my class can speak pretty decent French so I feel like I’m in the right level now for sure. In fact I’ve actually learned some things about French that I feel like I should have learned already but that I didn’t know (or I forgot…which is quite possible). So far this class has been filling in the blanks for me, for the things I’ve already learned but not completely. When I think about our schedule for the next three weeks it makes it seem like time is going by so fast. We actually leave for home three weeks from today, which is crazy. I mean it seems like we’ve been here for a long time, but three weeks doesn’t seem like a long time to remain here, especially since we just started new classes last Thursday. Also when I think about what I’m doing for the next three weeks it makes it seem like we’re leaving really soon. Today I was talking to Matt and Jen about our plans for the next few weekends and I said “this weekend I’m going to Paris, the weekend after that we’re going to La Rochelle, the weekend after that we’re going to Chambord and the weekend after that, we’re already in the States!” I like France a lot but I will be so ready to go home and see everyone and eat food. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe how bad my friends and I are going through food withdrawals. Today Matt was actually on the website for Taco Bell looking at the new menu items that have come out since we’ve been here. It was rather pathetic actually.
The other day and today I went shopping a bit to take advantage of the sales here and I bought a box thing that is in the shape of a turtle and about the size of a shoebox. It’s really cool. It’s wood and painted with colorful dots on top but I haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to pack it yet, especially because I also have two bottles of wine to attempt to bring home. I also went to FNAC (like FYE or Best Buy) to buy a copy of Eugénie Grandet so my host mom could read it at the same time as me and help me out, and when I was at FNAC I decided to go to the music section to look for a indie French band I’d found out about. I didn’t find that CD but what I did find, or rather, it found me, was the soundtrack to Home Alone. It was seriously fate. It was so weird. I just happened to glance over at the soundtrack section and right there in the front was the Home Alone CD. It wasn’t even in the right place in alphabetical order or anything. Plus how random is that, that I found the Home Alone soundtrack in France. I don’t think I could find that in the states that easily if I wanted to. Needless to say, I did not hesitate for one second to decide I had to purchase it, plus it was only 7 euro which isn’t that bad for a CD (most CDs are like 20 euro, which is ridiculous). I also bought something for my mom and for Kevin today, but since they’ll read this, I’m not going to write what it is. Yesterday we went to Chenonceau, which I think is my favorite castle we’ve gone to so far. It’s built sort of like a bridge on the Cher River. It’s pretty cool though because you can rent a row boat and row underneath of the chateau and take pictures. Plus yesterday was a really nice day. So Nicole, Michelle and I were in a boat with Madame Norris’s daughter Camille. She was really funny and talkative. She really wanted to show off her muscles and row the boat. To be honest, even the two Gaunt sisters, who were swimmers in high school couldn’t row, because they couldn’t really figure out the mechanics of it. So I ended up having to do half of the rowing, upstream, to get back to the dock. I was pretty hardcore about it, which lead to some very unflattering pictures of me in a lifejacket. Yesterday night I tried mussels for dinner, and they were gross. I only ended up eating one and even that took a lot out of me because they look so sick. My host mom ended up cooking some hamburger meat for me so I ate that with fries for dinner. She also told me that before I leave it is imperative that I eat (or at least try) escargot and frog. I am horrified now for dinner time. I used to be excited for dinner because I’m always hungry, but now I fear dinner time because I have no idea what I might have to eat. Tomorrow I leave for Paris for the weekend, with Jessie and Jen and I am super excited about that because all the other times I’ve been in Paris so far, since I’ve been in France, I’ve just been passing through and now I get the chance to actually see Paris. That’s all for now. I’m sure in a few days I’ll have a lot to talk about since Paris is this weekend and then Monday is the 14 Juillet which is independence day in France, which also means there will be a lot of partying and fire works. I think the new few days are going to be a lot of fun.
4 years ago