Rocquefort rends-moi forte!

It's cold again! It warmed for about two days- enough for me to wear my shorter coat instead of my long one- and here we are, back to the frosty ground, mud, and no hope of snow. It's still beautiful, even though the new girls haven't had a day to see how crisply the mountains are defined against the sky when the day is clear and blue. Soon enough, j'espere. I hope. Anyway, we're still waiting on UT for a response as to my group. I spoke with my professor again and he offered to give me extra work if I feel the class is getting too easy. I liked that idea- it means I can go at my own pace, and the professor will like the fact that Im asking for work. I don't know. I was a little bored yesterday, but today was better. So Ive met another member of the family, Benedicte. "Benie" as she is called. Im sure I horribly butchered the spelling of her name. She is 27 and enceinte- pregnant. She's come to stay for a few days- from Toulouse. She looks just like Isabelle, her mother, and they have the same mannerisms. She's very nice but speaks at the speed of sound, I swear. So that's always fun- and it means at dinner there's always something special. Last night was a pomme tartine- apple pie with a homemade crust, etc. It was delicieux and made up for the fact that the main course was BEANS. Don't get me started. I can only imagine how my face looked when they asked me for seconds, and then thirds on the beans. Benie has done charity work in Africa- how cool is that? Im also distressed because Vero came home crying yesterday, and I wanted to help, but what can you do? Im not quite a member of the family, and I felt uncomfortable bursting in her room wanting to help, and I didnt know if it was a physical ailment or emotional, though I did hear Isabelle mention stress quite a few times, which wouldnt surprise me at all considering the pressure they put these BAC students under. But at home, if it had been Kaitlin, Hayley, or India, I wouldve rushed in or tried to do something nice. Now Im kinda left silent because what can you do? Especially in another language. Suffice it to say, no West Wing was watched last night, but I saw her this morning and asked her how she was feeling and she said much better. Which surprises me, because she ate the beans, too. Ha. What else. I think Im going to hazard another trip to the cinema today. We have a crepe fete (crepe party- it's some holiday) on Thursday- and also one of the girls in our group finds out if she's accepted to the medical school she wants- so we're definitely going to be celebrating. Or drowning sorrows in crepes and wine. For her, of course. Sunday I didn't do much because there is nothing to do in France on Sunday. Literally, everything closes. Except the Quick. Odd, because Benie asked me yesterday, one of the first things, she said "Do you miss hamburgers?" ha. And I wanted to scream yes, but Ive made a personal resolution to not visit MacDo or Quick while Im here. Who wants hamburgers when youre in FRANCE? But then it got me thinking of my lovely hamburger frenzy before I came here....but anyway. Suffice it to say, I took an extra big slice of Camembert and remained content. Oh and apparently, Rocquefort cheese to the French is like spinach (epinards) to Popeye. So they told me themselves. Note my subject line. Not much else to report, sadly. This weekend should be fun and I may go skiing. So I say for the third weekend in a row. I may go skiing. Toute a l'heure, Chelsea

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning

Imagine my surprise as I rolled out of bed at 7h00 Friday morning, threw on my fuzzy bathrobe, and blindly made my way to the bathroom. Somewhere in the hallway my host mother Isabelle, ran into me. "Chelsea! Chelsea! Il neige!" She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the door, where I was greeted by a backyard blanketed in white powder. It was beautiful, and I took a bunch of pictures. The campus was silent, and the snow fell all day. The snow makes a most satisfying crunch when you walk in it, too. So it snowed continually on Friday and the snow is still here today. It's so beautiful. It's not even that cold outside- about 5 degrees Celsius- and it's so..clean. The Alps are shrouded in clouds, but I got a peek at them yesterday and theyre almost completely white. Last night, I could hear the snow falling. It was this still silence that just overcame the entire house. I am in love with the snow. Most of the other girls were very surprised at how content it made me. But I was. Tres contente.

So my professor complimented me again Friday. We're still conflicted about whether to change my niveau (level) or not, and UT still has not responded. He was really impressed with my essay about my childhood memory. It was quite hilarious and I may post it on here later so you can try and translate it. My translation class, by the way, is the most difficult class I have. It's so hard to translate idiomatic expressions. It's the little things that trip you up.

I don't have much time, but I had to share the tidbit about the snow. And the new girls are really nice. The one from Kansas was raised on a farm. I called her Dorothy. And I tried to explain The Wizard of Oz to Veronique- so Em or Tante if you guys read this- please bring Wizard of Oz on dvd with you when you come to France. I have to show her!

I love the snow. C'est tout. Im sure Ill be over it in a couple of days, but Im very happy.
Oh! And Ive decided my new favorite thing is eating artichokes. Just steamed and then eating them "the French way." So delicious. And dates. Dates are delicieux as well.

My toes are cold. :)
A bientot,
Chelsea

A Sweet Fix

I don't know why my favorite thing to update about is food, but it is. Last night, we had an amazing dinner. We had this creamy, broccoli soup and this homemade quiche with tomatoes, and cheese, and mustard- yes, mustard- and salad and fruit and cheese and bananas flambee. And my host mom turned off the lights when they did the bananas. It was hilarious and cute. They asked me if I wanted to try escargot because it's one of Isabelle's favorites, and I said of course. So I may be doing that sometime soon.

And, my professor wants to move me up to a more advanced group. That really made my day yesterday, because I thought I was doing horribly. He wants to put me in 30, but there are a lot of students in that group and he doesn't know if there's room. I told him if it's a choice between 27 and 28 (because there is no group 29) that I'll just stay in 27. I really enjoy the professor and it won't make any difference to UT if Im in 27 or 28. So, we'll see what happens. If nothing happens, Ill be happy. If something happens, I'll be happy. So it's a win-win.

Tomorrow we have a coffee and dessert thing at the API office for the new students. That will be fun- and I just met a group of them. Marie was giving them the tour of the city and they happened into the Internet Cafe. Theyre from Kansas, South Dakota, Michigan, and Colorado. Nice. I felt cool because Ive already been here (in Grenoble) two weeks and felt like an old pro, just happening upon some friends in the cibercafe.

Oh! so Tuesday we climbed the Bastille. A pied (on foot). Gothy, Susanna, Melanie, Jenna and I climbed for about 45 minutes in 35 degree weather (colder at the top) to see Grenoble from an aerial perspective. It was beautiful- and kind of dumb of us- because we went around 17h00- and were up there just as the sun set. It was great, and I got some really nice pictures. The Bastille was a fort built by the Romans when they still governed France. It's so cool, and there's not much else I can say about it. It's also quite a work out. Usually, they have the tele(somethings) working, those little bubble-like things that transport you from Grenoble to the top of the Bastille. But no, not in January and we did it on foot. I won't be working out for a while now. When we were walking down, it was pretty much dark and there were hardly any lights- just the reflection off the water from the town below us. It was great, and by the time I got back to my host home, I was ravenous. I think it was at least as many stairs as the Eiffel tower, and even steeper. So, Emmeline, India, Tante and Phil better prepare themselves for when they come in March- we have to climb the Bastille! (Ill allow us to take the bubbles back down, but climbing it is half the fun!)

Other than that, not much else is going on. People are falling ill like dominoes. Im glad Im almost out of it- (I thought I was until this morning... my RHUME came back...) but anyway.

Oh and my professor made a hilarious comment about perceptions of the French yesterday, he said "Les Francais aiment: le pain, le fromage, le vin, et les bises. C'est tout."
I thought that was hilarious, and almost true.
Groses bises,
Chelsea

All bets are off this year.

Well, it's mardi (Tuesday) which is better than lundi (Monday), but Im quickly coming to the opinion that jeudi (Thursday) is my favorite day of the week. Perhaps that's because I have no classes on that day?
Perhaps.

Woke up at 6h30 again this morning to come to school. It's wonderful seeing the sun rise over the mountains. Im still sick and sniffling every few minutes, but I think Im getting better. Slowly but surely.

So, Im here to dispel the rumor that my host family is vegetarian. Sunday, after le messe, mass, they had some friends over for dinner. I enjoyed them because they were animated and friendly, and their body language helped convey what they were talking about. When Pierre (yes, that was really his name) learned that I was an English Lit major, he immediately says, in broken English, "You like Tom Clan-cy?" It was hilarious and completely random. So anyway, for dinner (I say dinner, but it was around 14h00) we had this amazingly delicieux beef stew with potatoes au gratin. Salad, some special cheese from deep within the mountains, and chocolate gateaux for dessert. So delicieux. Im guessing they really wanted to impress these friends because they really brought out everything- even asked me if I wanted some liqour with my meal. It was fun.

I love my host sister, Veronique. She's the best. She saw my episodes of the West Wing and inquired as to what they were. I explained how they are episodes of my favorite television show in the US and she expressed an interest in watching them- to help her with her English. Well, if you know The West Wing, it's very fast paced and I don't even get every joke and reference. But she loves it! We've watched four so far. It's hilarious, trying to translate and explain the humor at the same time. I love it- it's a challenge for both of us.
And please, no one remind me of the cancellation of this show. I heard about it yesterday and was almost in tears- but all good things must come to an end. Look at X Files. They shouldve ended somewhere in season five. Ha. Anyway, so my host sister says hello to everyone- she made sure that I told Mom hello yesterday. She's great. And she helps me with my homework. She proofread my essay and checks over my work (on top of all the studying she has to do for the Bac, she takes time out to explain to me the different nuances of prepositions....!) So anyway, my family's great. Isabelle went to Lyon Monday morning before I awoke, but she's coming back today. Dinner was fun yesterday- just Vero, Benoit and I at the table. Made for interesting conversation- and he is one funny guy. I asked Vero if it was still cool to say "C'est choutte!" and she said no, that was more her father's generation. And then her dad said, "Mais, c'est choutte is like saying 'That's the TOP!'" It was so funny. And apparently, "ibonics" here is called something I can't spell, but can say, and they change words around. Carrefour for instance, is that big Wal Mart thing but also a traffic stop- where four roads come together. If I was a French rapper, I'd say Carre-rouf. Interesting, isnt it? And so I tried to do an American ibonics impersonation and I said something like, "That's mad whack, yo!" and did the hand thing, and Vero burst into laughter and said the French do the exact same hand thing. Ha. Good times.

Another strangely interesting thing Ive been learning is Chinese custom. Im interviewing this guy in my language class- he's from China, knows almost no English, and we're interviewing each other in French, bien sur. Apparently, the french word for chopsticks is "baguettes." How funny is THAT. And we were talking about proper meal etiquette- in China, you hold the bowl and chopsticks by your mouth to eat and you stoop low close to the table. You're also supposed to be very quiet when you eat. He's great- his name is Wen. We laugh a lot, so that's good. And I make good use out of my dictionary. The word for elbow? Coude.

So the cheese Ive been raving about is Camembert. Get a block of it- well, a circle, actually- and it has this white, almost crispy exterior, but is a very soft cheese within. I can eat it with a fork, I like it so much. Just by itself. Or on bread. But it's definitely addicting and I limit myself to one slice a day. A petite slice. Ha.

Its cold again and I hear there's going to be snow on Thursday- through Sunday. Sounds like fun, as long as I dont have to be outside for too long.

Ive learned that to make my millions, Im starting a French cell phone company. Definitely. I think they must be government subsidized or something. That's how Louis the XIV paid for Versailles. Goodness.
So, long story short, Ill be making less outgoing phone calls. Cough cough, hint hint.

Um, what else. Not much else. Bowling was fun and hanging out with two Kuwati Muslims made me miss Manar. I wonder how she's doing... But the bowling alley? It had a fully stocked bar. Fully stocked. It was like a bar first and then a bowling alley. Oh, the French.

So, on that note, Im thinking this is it until Thursday. Hopefully something fun will happen before then. According to my orientation materials, this is the week where the "honeymoon" period of my stay ends and reality begins to set in. I learned in class today that honeymoon is la lune de miel. Ma lune de miel est fini.
:)

Toute a l'heure,
Chelsea

Hail the pages turning..(song quotes, gotta love em)

So the new attention to song quotes is because I finally gave in to using my cd player on the 25 minute bus ride to the tram, and the 7 minute tram ride to campus. Its been fun rediscovering my favorite artists in this French setting. Fun.

Okay, a purely French moment: I was on the tram the other day, and I just so happened to see a small boy, maybe five or six years old, a messy mop of dark curls atop his head, poised at a stoplight, reaching up for the button that allows you to cross. In his arms he clutched two baguettes, both extending past the top of his head, almost as tall as he was. He had a red scarf and poofy blue jacket, and had a look of upmost concentration on his face. And he was alone. He was the cutest thing, and I wanted to jump off the tram and help him across the street. And eat a piece of the baguette. ;)

So Friday I woke up at 6h30 AGAIN (tres tot) for class. I actually made it out of bed by 6h50 this time and into the shower. Since Ive finally figured out the shower, it wasnt an experience I was dreading. I got off to school and had a quiz in my class, and we were given homework for the weekend. An essay. Which should be humorous and 500 words and about an experience in the past. I dont know what to write about yet, but I need to think about it soon since it's due Monday morning. I emailed my advisor about the placement thing, but I havent heard back yet.

So then I met up with Gothy and Jenna for a kebab- which is quickly becoming our new favorite thing in the world. For 4 Euros you can get a huge kebab and bottle of water. A kebab is a pita bread filled sandwich with some kind of meat (no one enlighten me, please because I dont think I want to know- but it tastes yummy!) and lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and various sauces. Delicieux and cheap. And it's the only time of the day I eat meat, because Ive decided my family is vegetarian. The other day for dinner, no joke, we ate: 1. shredded carrots, 2. green beans, 3. salad, 4. cheese, 5. roasted apples. It was yummy, yes, but I felt somehow cheated out of a main course. In America, those would all be sides. Haha. It was hilarious, but I had skipped lunch that day thinking Id have a big dinner (I mean, I ate an apple during the day but still) and then I get home and smell something yummy, but I guess it was the green beans? Who knows. So anyway we ate that kebab and then we took a trip to Carre Four. Let me tell you, apparently Carre Four rivals Wal Mart worldwide. Theyre quite popular in Japan, I hear. So Carre Four is basically, if Wal Mart and Fiesta had a GIANT child, it would be Carre Four. Or Carre Four is like the older, huge, giantess, Hagrid-like, sister of Wal Mart and Fiesta. It's hilarious. (Oh, okay AND more proof that the Olsen twins are taking over the world is that they had Mary Kate and Ashley books in FRENCH in CarreFour. I bet they have stock in it, too.) So I went in there and bought some granola bars and things to munch on during the day. I also bought two childrens books that my host sister, Vero, recognized instantly and apparently loved in her childhood. One is called Le Grand Reve de Monsieur Petit (The Big Dream of Mr. Little) and B..B..Bonjour dit Madame Timide (H..H..Hello says Madam Timid) so I think theyre hilarious and fun to read. You should see the animation! So, the point of my Carrefour story is that there are about 65 cash registers spread in a single line across the front of the store. Every line was long and my friends got in the ten items of less line. I had 11 items and was eager to not break any rules, so I went searching for a shorter line. (I also bought some cahiers and spirals for my class- all have GRAPH paper inside, not regular good ole' American paper) So anyway, I see this line that only has this woman and her young daughter in it. So I get behind the daughter and mother and put my things on the belt. Well, the daughter was cute with blonde hair and huge blue eyes and she was chewing on the corner of a book and I was cooing and saying, "Oh, qu'est-ce que c'est?" and talking baby talk to her, pretty much not paying attention to anything. The mother looked oddly familiar, and for a fleeting moment I thought she was American, even Texan (something about her clothes) so then the cashier turns to me and says something, very quickly, in French. I dont understand so I say, "Desolee" (sorry) and lean in further so she'll repeat what she said. She does, and I catch the words "one must be pregnant or" and then I turn in horror to the sign over the cashier number and it shows a picture of a pregnant woman, a woman with a child, and a handicapped person. I was so embarrased! I start to apologize, and offer to change lines "je peux changer le ligne" but the cashier was super nice and just laughed and said "Ca n'est pas grave"- no big deal, and left me in line. So I am standing there, as red as my hair, and the mother turns and says to me, "Are you from here?" and I said "No- Im an American studying here" and she starts talking in English. Turns out, she's from SAN ANTONIO! of all places, and moved here about six months ago because her husband works for Motorola and they have a big factory/headquarters or something here. And I told her I went to UT and she said her husband and her watched the game on cable and were so excited that we won! I couldn't believe it. She told me good luck with everything and that it all gets easier, and to just act like I was pregnant. It was great, and took a very little bit of the embarassment away. So as I was recounting this to my host family, I got to the Motorola part and just said it in my accent, without putting any French twist on it. And my host dad, Benoit, said, repeat that company. And I said Motorola, how I would say it. "Mode-er-oh-la" and he couldnt comprehend it. And then suddenly he says, "M-oh-tur-oh-lah" and starts laughing. I love how my accent makes even American words difficult to comprehend! Ha. But it was great, and now I have a fun story for cocktail parties. Haha.

On another note, Im sick. Total disgustingness and Im taking Claritin for it. Seems I caught it from the host family. I knew that was going to happen.

Also, I watched Les Choristes in French without the subtitles. I highly recommend this wonderful movie for all of you- you'll fall in love with the soundtrack, I might add. But make sure you watch it with English subtitles. :)

Oh, and I had some crazy dreams again last night. I mean, crazy.
And I watched the West Wing last night. I love that show and my host sister wants to watch to improve her English. She's so great.

So, okay. Today Im going to watch Brokeback Mountain en francais with the girls and then go bowling later. Which will be a great experience, I am SURE of it. I cant wait to have all the details for you guys.

By the way- it's cold again. January, how I love thee. And I almost went skiing this weekend.
Key word is almost.
Okay.

A bientot,
Chelsea :)

They told me to tell you they're waving. <--song quote

So my first day of school was yesterday. I felt like a kindergartener, but I really did resemble one. My host mom graciously dropped me off at the tram station as she was taking Vero to school. We left the house at 7h30 and it was freezing cold and raining. I was insanely happy that I didnt have to walk all the way to the bus stop in that weather. So I got on the tram and arrived early to campus- around 8h00. (about fifteen minutes to the tram station, and then another ten or so on the tram and about five to get to class) I was bored and the campus was empty- but luckily, a few girls in my group arrived early as well and we compared classes. It became 8h30 entirely too quickly and I left for my class. My group >27< has fourteen people in it- 4 Americans, 4 Japanese, 3 Chinese, 2 Korean, and one Venezuelan. It's impressive to me that these people who natively speak a tonal language like Japanese or Chinese want to learn a language like French and speak French more than English. I like it. The Venezuelan has a definite Latin accent on his French. He was a pilot in the army there for five years. How crazy is that? So our professor- he detests "Monsieur" so we're to call him Dominique- son prenom, n'est pas son nom... which confused the heck out of me- the difference between prenom and nom... anyway he walks in and I instantly like him. He's hilarious, interested in us and our progress, and encouraging and enthusiastic. Which we got to know well because I had him for 4 hours yesterday morning- all French all the time here- but it was strictly French language from 8h30 to 12h30 with one five minute break in between. We introduced each other in this cute exercise. We went to the lab and heard a five minute news story and had to answer questions about it. We had to listen to him read a passage and write it out- a dictee. We had to recite a passage (that had huge numbers and percents in it, and numbers are some of the hardest things to try and read fluently, I mean, 367,990 is "trois cent soixante sept mille neuf cent quatre- vingt dix", so yeah. and the comma in French- let's say you're saying 32,9% is read "trente deux virgule neuf percent" Crazy! And the professor alerted me to a problem I have with my A's. Normally, when I read a word like "massif" or "population" i pronounce the A like the A in mace. MASsif and popuLAYtion, when really it should be mAHssif and populAHtion, and we had this hard word in that passage- agglomeration- which is AHgglomerAHtion, so anyway. At the end of reciting the passage to him, I felt significantly improved and he told me I sounded so, so I was happy. I had a short break for lunch where I met up with the other API girls because we're all taking the same electives together in the afternoon. I had French Art History (and volunteered two answers that the Professor was impressed with- she told us to name paintings by Renoir and I volunteered "La Moulin de la Galette" and by Manet and of course, I said "Le Dejeuneur sur L'Herbe", so yeah. I was happy.) That class is going to be great and tres facile because I already know the things we're discussing. The next class was the History of French Cinema and the professor was much less animated and his voice was very deep- which in an amphitheater, speaking French, makes comprehension very, very difficult. So I may give that class up. We have a trial period of about two weeks to decide which classes we want to take, and I may have to leave that one out. So I ended up leaving campus at 18h00 (6pm) after being there all day. I arrived in the dark, and left in the dark. It was sad. But today, I don't have any courses so that's why Im in my internet cafe doing my thing. I love it. Im on the search for some hand lotion, though because my skin is so dry and I hate using my Lovely lotion for things other than a very special occasion. Let's see, the other night for dinner we ate this souflee thing that was really yummy. We've only had ONE dinner that had any meat in it and it was ham wrapped around cooked endives, which was surprisingly tasty. Last night we ate tomato soup, rice and tomatoes with curry (which strangely, the entire family put my salsa on top of it, mixed it around, and ate it like that!), salad with that spice im still not sure what it is but im in love with it, and cheese and fruit desserts with a grahm cracker bottom in the bowl. They were tart-like but less..gelled? I don't know. I think the yogurt (yaourt) in them gave me some crazy dreams last night because I had some crazy dreams.
So today, it's beautiful and WARMER. When I say warmer, I mean 40s and not 20s. Thank Goodness! I got to take off one layer this morning and that made me insanely happy. The sun is back, and the sky is blue again and the mountains are beautiful. My host mom went skiing with her friends this morning. How cute is that? I want to just stay in the city all day long and walk around and soak up this beautiful weather that has come back. Hopefully, it will stay for a while.
Did I tell you guys how my host parent's new favorite thing to do is bring out the Atlas after dinner? They enjoy questioning me about Texas' imports and exports, our trees (it was hilarious- they were trying to ask me about oak trees and Vero drew an acorn and I was trying to explain it in English and...wow, good times.) our weather, etc. They had never heard of an acre and are now fascinated with acres. Apparently, the acre left France in the middle ages. But anyway. Not much else to report, other than this beautiful weather and my new adoration for the kiwi. It makes my day- and I eat it with a spoon. Is that strange?
Grosses bises,
Chelsea

Im funny. Laugh with me.

So the phone thing was wrong AGAIN.
Here is the new perfected number.
01133611981449

So I tested into the almost advanced level of language, but not the advanced which I need for UT. This happens, and Im going to be emailing my advisor to see if my "almost" level (Im supposed to be at 30 but Im at 27) will work or no. We'll see, but not to worry. I did as well as I could and Im happy because high intermediate over here is advanced at home, so...? Not to worry. I have my first REAL class tomorrow.

My host family is sick. Poor Veronique didnt even go to school today AND she's studying for the BAC while sick in bed. The weather has turned even colder (could that be possible?) and yesterday it snowed on me on the way home. We've been trying to figure out the conversion from Celsisus to Farenheit, so if anyone wants to help a girl out and leave it here in simple, English-major terms, that'd be really swell.

Gothy and I went to the museum of Grenoble yesterday because it was free and warm. It was fun, and we spoke French the entire time. It was kind of like Versailles, but not. I got up the courage to ask my host family about my increasingly cold room and they turned my heater back on for me. Mysteriously, my room was cleaned yesterday. Not much, just the floors swept, etc. I got my first round of laundry back, too and my family doesnt have a dryer. So now I have underwear that feels like boards. Literally, like wood. Im not sure what to do with them. Because I can't wear them, not yet. I have a few more days before I have to make a decision but cmon, Ive never missed Downey more.

We tried an Italian place on the other side of the River. The pizza I had was delicieux, et I adored the ambiance. Ambience. Hmm.... my spelling is quickly going out of the window...

What else. I saw a pretentious group of schoolchildren board the bus yesterday and the ringleader of them all was a 12 year old with stylishly torn designer jeans over his silver nikes, a black poofy jacket with an aqua pashmina tied around his neck, a Motorola Razor phone clamped to his ear. He had this air of superiority and kissed the cheeks of every schoolage female and shook the hands of every man on his way to the back of the bus where someone got up and made room for him. It was hilarious. I imagine he'll be chef ou patron of something someday.

Nothing else very exciting happening. I think I may try my hand at skiing over the weekend- but Im not sure if it's a good deal yet. We'll see. Maylis is staying in Lyon this weekend, so I have to fend for myself activities-wise.

I wish there was something else to say. I've been eating a lot of kiwis. They are so sweet. Ive never had an affection for them before, but now I can't get enough of them.

Oh and the Girl Scouts over here? Theyre called The Scoots - that's how it's pronounced phoenetically. I think it's the cutest thing. Les Scoots.

So, toute a l'heure mes amies.
Hopefully tomorrow, something exciting will happen. :)

Okay, so I figured out how to put pictures in an album online. So if youd like to see them, leave me your email so I can send them to you. OR if I did email them to you, could you please forward them on? OR maybe this link will work: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=vkth859.17it7gjh&Uy=pldqpl&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1&UV=880351945538_11859422609

Im not sure.
We can try.
:)

A few things I forgot to mention...

Some of you are probably wondering when I sent that mass email what Montbonnot meant. Montbonnot is like a suburb to Grenoble, which is where my host family's house is located.
Some other things I've been wanting to mention:
King's Cake- la galette du roi- we've had this about three times now and it's so delicious. Different from the Kings Cake in the US it's much more pie-like with a buttermilk taste and no Mardi Gras colored sprinkles on the top. Whenever I eat it, I think of Mom. AND the babies in the last cakes were Harry Potter related. Hilarious. But Jan. 6th was Epiphany and we're still celebrating.
My cadeau(present) for my family- Well, imagine my surprise when I sit down to a huge lunch yesterday (the midday weekend meal) and the first course is, surprise!, chips, salsa, and jalapeno jelly on crackers. It was hilarious watching my family try and eat all of it- the girls my age loved the salsa and the others the jelly. It was great and such a trip to have Austin Spice Company Salsa in a freezing house in Grenoble in January on crackers. Hilarious.
Yesterday I went for a walk in the mountains with my host sister and boy, was it beautiful. Im working on the pictures now. It was magnificent- and the best day to do so. Everyone is always surprised that Ive never seen real snow, and ask me questions like, "How many pools do you have in texas?" It's so funny. But I played in it, stood in it, fell (glisee) in it- everything yesterday. I absolutely loved it. It was perfect. Afterwards, Maylis(my host sister my age) took me to a Raclette with a bunch of her friends at their apartment. Imagine me and about 17 French people my age, all speaking furiously fast in French and I was trying to contribute something more than "I like cheese" to the conversation. Hilarious and we MUST do a raclette when I get home. A raclette is where they serve cold meats and warm potatoes and you warm cheese in this kind of fondue pot but not really and you pour it over the meat and potatoes and eat it. Very yummy and extremely cost-conscientious. Im sure that's horribly mispelled, but Im rushing here. And everyone thought it was great that I was here trying to learn the language and I got compliments on my accent (except from Andre from Poland who told me my accent was tres different) but yeah. So much fun- and you would be amazed how much body language can add to a conversation.
I think Im going to add pictures now and I have to hurry home because buses and trams are unreliable on Sundays.
Oh! And the phone thing- I was wrong. Dont put the 0 in front of the 6 on my telephone number. So to call it's:
00133611981449
My bad.
Hope all is well!
Let's cross our fingers for pictures!
Toute a l'heure!

Bienvenue a Grenoble!

I made it here at last. The town I call home for the next five months. I've met my family and mastered the bus system (which seemed to give me the most comfort, perhaps not surprisingly). I've found the CUEF (pronounced the koo-eff not C.U.E.F.) which is where we will have classes. I take a placement test on Monday (lundi) which is comprised of written, listening comprehension, and an oral part. My room is so cute and large. The house has wood and stone floors. I've been randomly bumping into furniture (because it's me) and the sound echoes across the house. Im getting used to navigating in the dark- rarely is there a light on unless someone is inside the room. At home there is Isabelle (my host mom who picked me up from the train station and gave me two kisses) and Benoit (the dad who is shorter than I am and works at Schneider Electric who offered me wine last night, and when I said no he SURPRISINGLY said "Voudriez-vous du Dr. Pepper?" >Would you like some Dr. Pepper?< and I laughed.) Also, there is Veronique- the 17 year old who is studying for the Bac- the final test the French take that determines if they go to University or not. The first night, we were a little shy, but last night she came into my room and we talked and found that we both share a love for Harry Potter, think that Ron and Hermione will marry, and we looked at all our pictures. I showed her my family (Christmas / New Years / Pappasito's going away party) and she showed me family albums of hers. I like talking to her one on one because she speaks a bit slower and we tend to correct each other a lot. If I dont understand a word, Ill try and spell it. 9 times out of 10 if I can spell it, I can decipher the meaning. The first night my head was pounding. My family speaks almost NO English. To me, they don't speak English at all because they know I want to learn. Ive been thinking in French constantly- and it's a relief at night to write in my journal in English- though Ive been slipping into a Franglais (French/English hybrid) recently. I can only imagine a month from now, or two. Madame Barrow at Nimitz always said that the French language ruined her English spelling, and it's so completely true. I saw SNOW on the way here on the train from Paris, and it was so beautiful. This morning there was snow on the sidewalk as I walked to the bus stop. If the bus stops in Texas looked like the ones here, I would never own a car. The buses are also clean and don't smell like homeless people. And the meals! It was hilarious because I've always read that the French eat one course at a time, but I always thought that was just something they said in textbooks left over from the 80s or something. So the first night I sit down to the table and Isabelle serves me this soup. Thick, orange- I think it was some kind of squash or something soup. So I help myself to a bit because I was hungry, thinking that was the only course. Isabelle even said, in French of course, we eat a lot of soup. So I'm thinking, this is it. Well, then I look and Isabelle and Veronique are done and waiting for me. So I finish my soup quickly. Then they bring out mushrooms and potatoes. Then when that was done, we had salad. Then we had bread, cheese and yogurt. Then we had fruit. I never know how much to eat because I have no idea what is coming next. Last night we had this coleslaw like salad followed by a rice, tomato, onion hot dish, then salad, the cheese, then chocolates and fruit. It was so funny. We took a tour of Grenoble- it's much bigger than I originally thought but it's still small. I love it and am just now learning to navigate the streets. The Internet Cafe I am at gave me free hot chocolate- which surprisingly comes with sugar on the side that you have to add yourself, which I thought defeats the purpose of hot chocolate, but whatever. But I found it. There are open air markets in the morning on almost every street corner except for Monday mornings. The window in my room- I opened the shutters one morning and looked out- and I see BelleDonne- the beautiful snow capped Alps- outside my window. Simply breathtaking to wake up, rub my eyes and slowly walk to the window, throw open the windows in the 30degree cold and have this brillant sight greet me. C'est magnifique. France is now in the period of the Soldes- a national time when all the stores have sales. We're going to go now to check out some soldes- Id like to buy another scarf or something and maybe a purse for books, etc. Hayley- your purse has been in every picture I've been in! Ha. Thanks. I am staying warm- Im finding the cold more tolerable even if it is FREEZING outside. My host family is great, the views are breathtaking, and the city is welcoming. I feel that every day my French gets a little bit better. I made my first French pun last night. I said "Le francais dans le livre n'est pas le francais dans le vivre" which is like saying, French in the books isnt the same as French in life. La vie. Something like that. I got a laugh, and I was happy about that.
I hope all is well with everybody and I feel like I've been gone much longer than I actually have. How will I feel in three months? I guess we'll see.
:)
Exciting!

Number

If anyone has any desire to call me, my cell number here is:
(you must dial 001133 before this)
06 11 98 14 49

Ill be deleting this entry the next time I get online, so copy it down and keep it somewhere safe!

Magical

My laptop battery is almost dead, but I promise a very thorough update soon. This city is MAGICAL. I think that is the only word appropriate. I am having a wonderful time- I've met some wonderful people, and am so happy with the program. I've walked all over Paris and Versailles- worked off the thousands of calories of duck, crepes, and bread I've consumed since I've been here. The weather is FREEZING and windy and overcast. Paris weather. If anyone watches Sex and the City- the season six episodes where Carrie is in Paris is so true. It's just like that. Overcast and rainy. Today I climbed- no elevators! go me!- the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe(yes it has stairs to the top!)- to the top of Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur. We also went to Versailles this morning and walked all over the beautiful grounds- inside and out. A little bit of fog did not keep us away. We're going out tonight- its 640pm here, and we plan to have fun with some people we've met from various programs. Pictures soon- my laptop is adjusting slowly but surely to this country and pretty soon she'll be great. Ive also gone to Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, and the Louvre. And a trip to the infirmary- a very minor infraction, but it was hilarious and I have pictures! Please keep reading and I really do promise a NICE entry soon. Can you believe even my journals lay empty, begging for attention? I meet my family tomorrow. My director, Marie, assures me they are wonderful and just moved into a new *big* house with a pool. Exciting! I am their first API student, though they've done exchanges before. The trip over was exciting and I only almost missed my plane once- and I had to run across the Philadelphia airport with my beg slung across my chest. I was literally sweating when I boarded. I am staying warm- everyone is always surprised Im from Texas because I seem adjusted to the cold weather...which is funny. My coats are great and gloves are warm and Im layering everything I have. Our director speaks to us in French 92% of the time- I love it. Im speaking French more than ever- and Im getting less scared to use my French with strangers. Okay, my battery is yelling at me, so...

A bientot, mes amies, je vous rencontrerai!

Time slips away like heartbeats....

Time flies when you're having fun. And it did. I pulled off the hardest semester of my college career with a good GPA, and now the day to leave the country is rapidly approaching.

Today is Monday, and I am leaving on Saturday. I fly out of Houston IAH at 3:20pm and land in Philly at 7:20pm. From there, I search frantically for the international terminal (reference to India and I and our search for our international flight out of O'Hare this last summer...at least we found a leprechaun to lead the way!) and depart Philly (sans cheesesteak sandwich) at 8:20pm. From there, I will arrive in Paris at Charles de Gaulle at 9:45am the 8th of January. I'll be in Paris Sunday night and all day Monday. Tuesday we travel to Versailles and then Wednesday we take a train at 14:30 to Grenoble where our families will welcome us with open arms at the train station at 17:30. I am trying to get used to military time. I am trying to finish my extensive to-do list: sign forms, fill out the FAFSA, obtain my W-2 so I can file electronically while overseas, call the bank so they don't think my card has been stolen, look at registering for summer classes, etc. And all the while trying to get every last second with family and friends in Houston. And Daniel is even coming to spend Wednesday with me.

What a wonderful, exciting way to begin this new year. I have no clue what this all has in store for me, but I am overwhelmingly anxious for it all to begin.

Bring on the refried beans and tortillas- I have to eat them all I can before Saturday. ;)