Des Changements.

Gabin and Kilian discover Photobooth on my Mac.

As of today, my blog is officially about being in France, because I'm in France and am not a vegan. I feel that this makes sense.

Also, I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. It actually feel very weird to be writing in English right now, when I have just spent the entire day communicating (or attempting to communicate) in French. En tout cas, I feel that I need to write now because so much has happened already that I am losing track of (if you know my memory, you will understand this).

WOAH - Sidenote: My host father is in the other room watching TV, and I just heard people speaking in heavy Scottish accents on it. What the hell is he watching?

Anyway, so I am officially living with my host family now. No more hotel (which was tiny but great, by the way) in la ville de Rouen. My host mother, Nadine, is an incredibly kind and warm person, but talks a kilometer (I'm in Europe now) a minute and expects everyone to understand her. When we all got together yesterday, the other host parents asked me how I was understanding Nadine, because even they struggle to figure out what she is saying sometimes. Joy. She is so nice though. Her husband is also incredibly nice, but even more quiet, and so when I am left alone with him it is usually awkward. But you can't escape awkward moments when you're living in a foreign country with strangers, I guess.

So, aside from almost overdosing on eggs and being miserably sick for the past few days, I am enjoying France so far. Yesterday, I went to Lyon en Foret with Charlotte, Elizabeth, Kyle, and their host families. It was absolutely GORGEOUS. I have a lot of pictures, but no way to upload them (yet), so I will post as soon as I get one. N'inquiète. We walked around the village, and learned really cool things about different aspects of it. Unfortunately, I was too miserably sick to truly enjoy it, and counldn't wait to get back to les L'Hermittes (shockingly).

Today, was SO much better. I woke up at 7, took my antibiotics, and went back to sleep until 8:30, when I got up, showered (for the first time during my homestay. I really miss my shower), and got ready to go to an elementary school to talk to the students about being American. Unfortunately, I was actually going to an amusement park, and didn't need to wear a scarf and a jacket and cute shoes. I told you my host mother was difficult to understand! Apparently, the school is later in the week. Truthfully, I still don't have a clue. I will attempt to get a coherent response at dinner tonight.

Anyway, I went to a parc d'attraction with Ariel, Emily, and their host siblings and friends. It was a blast! We went on rollercoasters (much scarier than they looked), a safari ride (that played The Lion King soundtrack in French), a giant, rocking pirate ship, a water ride, swan pedal boats, slides, and a bunch of other rides. We spent all day there, and then hung out at Chloe's for a little while until it was time to go home for dinner. Camille gave me a ride home, but we got lost and couldn't find the neighborhood, and so I got home a little later than expected. In my defense, literally ALL of the neighborhoods look the same, and I have only been living here for 2 days. It was hilarious though, and she was so awesome, so it was fun even though we had no idea where my house was.

I finally got here to find that Nadine had gone shopping while I was gone, and bought me some vegetarian food! A veggie pizza, a bunch of vegetables, rice, pasta, and all kinds of stuff. I am so happy with this day :) Also, I understood everything Nadine said today when she came home, and even got Moise to speak to me! It's been great.

So, it's dinner time now - je dois manger le pizza! j'ai vraiment hate :)

Love, Josie