I keep forgetting I'm in France and looking out a door and seeing France and being a little surprised to see it. 19 more days. 2 and a half weeks.

Being in this town reminds me of Asheville. Just the landscape though. It makes me miss the reasons why I love Asheville so much. I can eat as much cheese and bread as I want, but I can't enjoy them with people I'm going to know for forever. I'm going to be in Marseilles this weekend. I don't know what to do for my last two weeks in France. I'll eat some Mediterranean fish and swim in the sea, but besides that, I have no clue.

See everybody soon!

lousy

If it had to be lice, then I'm glad I found out about them somewhere I can have help getting them out. They'll be gone in the morning, thank God.

Paris

Bethany and I are leaving Paris tomorrow. She's going back home to Atlanta and I'm going back to L'Arche for a few more days. It's 95 degrees Farenheit right now. It's too hot to move.

The first 2 days of being here were good, we were major tourists yesterday and saw the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. The coffee here's really good. It's hard to not want more than a cup a day.

There's no where to go swimming.


Update:
I'm sorry that was so negative. We ate fruit and cheese and bread for lunch and took much needed naps today. We went to a park and spent time outside where there was a breeze. Then we found a great little place to have a super Parisien supper. Bethany got steak tartare and it wasn't at all gross. It was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. I had salmon prepared three different ways. 


I hope everyone else is having a great day. Hug somebody for me.

my book report

I was reading this book, The Seven Story Mountain, by Thomas Merton, last night. It's taken me more than a month to read it - the first half of it or so was describing how screwed up his life was because he wasn't following Jesus and it was kind of boring, but then after he gets baptized it gets a lot better. Thomas wants to join a monastery, but gets told that he doesn't have that vocation after telling the Abbot what happened in his life before he was converted. But then, he talks to more people and then he takes a retreat at a Trappist monastery in Kentucky. He goes back to his job at a college teaching a writing class, but continues to think about joining a monastery. Last night I read this part about how after Thomas gets accepted into the Trappist monastery, he is talking about what the monks do for work and how they don't pause for contemplation, they are just supposed to work and, if they get the chance, "to mutter 'All for Jesus! All for Jesus!' through their teeth" while they are still cutting hay or whatever it was he was describing. I remembered reading that this morning while I was doing the dishes and it really makes chores and things easier, if you really do do it for Jesus.

I biked to church on Sunday morning. I wish I had taken my time on the way there, I didn't think it would only take me 20 minutes. It's not been nearly as peaceful going to services here as I thought it would be. Just going in and sitting by myself has been better. It's very different to not know the pattern of the Catholic service. If I were comfortable with the service, I'd feel a lot better about going and participating, even if I didn't understand a word of what was going on.

It's been kind of chilly and rainy here for a few days. I just walked outside for a second though, and the sun was warm! I've been wearing my sweater and jeans for a week. It's hard to want to go outside when it reminds me of winter time and it's June. I've been trying to help the mother of the family I'm staying with get her house organized. Mostly, it's just been me doing dishes and looking after the babies or tidying up the older girls' room and play room. They moved here from England 3 years ago and they've had 2 babies since then. And the dad still works in London and can only come home on weekends. So, they've got their hands full. The littlest girl is just about to walk on her own. She'll stand by herself for a few seconds and walk around holding on to my fingers. It's so cool to see. Oh, and the 5 year old is starting to read. I've read her a few books over and over and she's memorized them. She'll read them by herself now. I like reading her the books she has in French. We read a lot of T'choupi books yesterday. She helps me with my pronunciation, after she laughs at me. I can kind of do the French way of saying Rs now. Mardi, dehors, drapeau de france...

duvet covers

I don't know why America doesn't have duvet covers as the norm. I'm making some when I get home. I'm writing this so someone will remind me. (Grace, ahem.)

l'église catholique

So Catholic church on First Communion Sunday in French on the back row wasn't the best church experience I've ever had. haha. Not everyone, but people kept talking around us, for almost the entire service. Especially these 3 people in front of me. It was packed. There were people standing up in the back and I couldn't hardly hear what the priest was saying, but I could follow along in the bulletin. I couldn't help but think about what it must have been for the people who went to mass when the priests spoke in Latin and they couldn't understand and it was hot and the babies were crying. The service next week is in the town right down the road from us, so we might be able to ride bikes. It shouldn't be so crowded since a lot of the people today come just for Easter, Christmas and First Communions.


It's funny the types of reactions I get from people when someone introduces me as the girl from America. Before church started the people I was with introduced me to a French man and he asked me how I was, in English. I answered him in French somehow and he thought it was the funniest thing. But then he started back in French pretty fast, but I caught what he was asking. I answered, "Caroline du Nord." So, first successful conversation today that didn't result in me buying something. It lasted less than 30 seconds. Then, after church, this lady says hi to our group and comes over and starts bisou-ing everyone. It's a little awkward for me still, when someone I don't know wants to touch your face with theirs and she noticed. Then I was the American girl again and she made this face like, "oh, I get it now." But she didn't get to talk to me in French, so maybe I'm just "super charmante" in French and I don't even know it. 

Travel days

The day before yesterday I traveled from Chalais and was picked up by mt new host family in Laval. I was able to get an earlier train, so I arrived in Laval 4 hours before I was expected. So I was able to be a tourist for a little while. Laval was a lot bigger and touristy than I expected. There was an old castle, I think from the 13th century, historical maps and walking tours that I could have gone on. I feel silly enough walking around with my backpack and a map, so I took out my camera too and the only thing missing was a cane and a red and white striped shirt. I've already lost my toothbrush and sweater...

The only thing is about taking pictures is that it's so expensive to get them developed here, so I think I'm just going to save developing them until I get back home. It was almost 11 euro just to get the film developed and a CD made, no prints. It's only just about a month and a half more.

Developed film

Nanny's Birthday

Un Âne

je ne comprends pas

I'm sitting here trying to think of something to write about and there's too much. I've stayed with 2 families so far, just about 2 weeks at both of them. It doesn't feel like I've been gone almost a month now. I'm staying in a tiny town called Chenaud right now. Wednesday morning I take a train north to Laval, near Le Mans.

It's kind of sad to think about how transitory my life is right now. Being in a place for 2 weeks doesn't let anyone know anyone, really. It's doubly hard living with a French family and not knowing nearly as much French as I thought I knew. I had a conversation with the dad yesterday, for the first time since I've gotten here. He could tell I was having a hard time for some reason and he wanted to know what was going on. I told him how it's been hard not being able to communicate like I would normally, with English speakers. I never realized before how much I take for granted being able to speak fluently about how I feel... even though probably everyone who is going to read this know how much I don't take advantage of having native English speakers at my disposal very often to discuss what's going on in my head or heart.