C'est La Vie!

I'm Finally Back!

2012-02-01T23:00:00.001+01:00

I didn't realize it has been two months since my last post. I am so sorry! One of my New Year's Resolutions was to post in my blog at least once a week, but obviously that whole goal didn't start out great. But here I am finally. I've been to Toulouse. I've been to Paris. I celebrated Christmas. And New Year's. I celebrated my birthday. And I went to the mountains for a snow day. So I will catch you all up as much as I can.

So, a lot has happened. And Sophie has pictures that I planned on posting on here, so those will come later. Writing about all that has happened seems very overwhelming at the moment, so I will only write about a few things at a time until I catch up. And I promise I will try really hard to be better and post in my blog more.

Toulouse. I went to Toulouse in the beginning of December. I went with PSP (Pierre, Sophie, Piha) on a saturday afternoon, we spent the night at their friend's house and then came back Sunday late afternoon. We went to Toulouse because P&S's friend was expecting a new baby! Her husband had an accident at work, so he wasn't able to work for a while, and their 4 year old is one of those kids that always needs attention, so Marie was begging for us to come visit. We didn't do anything too special. We discussed baby names, visited Toulouse for a little, and watched the Miss France pageant. Lilly kept talking and talking to me, and wanting to play, but at that point, I still could barely understand French. She is a very cute girl though.

I just would like to congratulate myself with my French. Granted it is still terrible, but I am beginning to see how far I have come! December was a month of much progress. I believe it was because of my friends. I spent a lot of time with them in December. And because I can actually make very small conversation, Sarah and I talk more! Sarah discovered that I can understand, and actually say something back, and ever since, she just chats away. Some of the time I have no idea what she is saying, but I just say, oui, ouais, mhmm, etc. She is my best teacher. I love it. And my French class is easier than before. I still don't understand what they are saying usually, but I can speak more. I still have a long way to go, but it is nice being at a point where I can see how much progress I have actually made. If only I could just stop being afraid to speak...

I spent Christmas with PSSP (Pierre, Sophie, Sarah, Piha), but for New Year's Eve, I went to a church party. I was very sad that my friends Maruata and Christophe weren't there. They are my Tahitian friends, and they are married. They were off traveling and visiting the happiest place on earth, Disneyland Paris. Unfortunately for me, I got very homesick after Christmas. I was completely fine all throughout the holidays, until I FaceTimed my family. Seeing everyone open presents and being together made me feel so lonely! I missed the American Christmas time. But I will talk about that more later. So for New Year's I was feeling very homesick. Like I mentioned earlier, I went to a church party. It was mostly youth from church, and we played music all night and danced. Because I wasn't in the best of moods, I didn't feel like dancing. Plus, I wasn't wearing the best dancing outfit...

There was food, so I ate. And I was doing fine until I tried talking to one of my friends and realized he was in a bad mood. It reminded me that I wasn't the happiest either. So after that I just cried. I couldn't help it. And after crying I really didn't feel like doing anything except laying in bed and going to sleep. But because I didn't drive myself, I had to stay. The new year came, and I couldn't wait to get to my bed.

Don't worry I have so much more to write and tell you about, but I think the best way for me to get it all done, is by posting a little bit at a time... So there is more to come! Hopefully more tomorrow! But I am not making any promises.

Just Givin' You the 411

2011-11-24T22:00:00.000+01:00

Bonjour tout le monde (Hello everyone). Someone suggested that instead of catching up, I just start writing about current events. So instead, I will post pictures from the past couple months, and only write little stories. So here we go! Are you excited?

Oh, and you should know that this a massive picture overload... And the stories aren't in order.

The purpose of this first group of pictures is to show you where I live. So welcome to the country. There are cornfields everywhere. And cows. I used to think that Utah smelt bad. (Obviously not all the time, but sometimes when there was a breeze, a stench would be riding along with it.) But no, the country is worse. Again, it isn't a 24/7 stench, but when the smell comes, it is horrendous! Cow poop is powerful stuff.

However, I do think that my area is still pretty. It is fall, so the leaves are changing. I never knew that leaves could turn into such bright colors. It is positively beautiful! The Pyrenees Mountains are covered in snow now, which makes the mountains look even prettier. Even though the lake is too gross to swim in, it still looks pretty. Sometimes Piha and I will walk down to the lake, but the hike back up is steep and tiring, so we don't go too often.

That last picture is of an evil plant. Nettles. Well that is what ortie translates to in the British English. Which reminds me. Looking up words isn't always helpful because the British English word is totally different than the American English word. Back to the nettles... One day, I went with Piha and Sophie's mom to pick up left over corn in the corn fields (the corn was for the rabbits, not us). When we were done searching for extra corn, we halfway slid down a small hill that, of course, was spotted with nettles. I don't think I have ever seen nettles before, and obviously Sophie's mom has, because I put my hands down on them. Holy crap it stung! I was scared it was poisonous and I was going to die in France. The stinging went away pretty fast, but then the areas that had contact started to tingle and go numb kind of like laying on your arm until it falls asleep. And my skin turned red with little white dots that looked like blisters. Sophie's mom just kept laughing and saying, "Ahh, oui! Ça pique!" Translation, yes, it stings. At least I knew I wasn't going to die...

And now we move onto my trip to Biarritz. Biarritz is famous for surfing. The beaches, and the water, are absolutely stunning! I was hoping for sunshine, but Mr. Sun never showed up. However, I still enjoyed my time in Biarritz.

I only love this picture because it reminds me of a picture with Winnie the Pooh... And yes, I realize that I am a little old for Pooh Bear.

I can't remember if I have mentioned that my bathroom is finished! At first, there was only a sink, so if nature called during the night, I had to walk to the main house and sneak around quietly inside until I found the bathroom. I was always afraid I would wake someone up. I admit that I seriously considered going outside. Hey, I am just trying to be honest.

For two weeks, my flat was under construction. Well, my future bathroom was. Now, I have a toilet, shower, and a sink. So luxurious! That tiny five-sided figure to the left is my shower. My bathroom is teensy weensy, but I love it. I will post the 'after' images on my next post.

And this is Minette. The cat. When my bathroom was under construction, the workers left the doors open. So of course Minette would sneak into my flat and have a little snooze in my bed. The little booger. I did love her company though. She kept me warm, and she was something I could cuddle with. That is the good thing about cats, they keep themselves pretty clean and are calm. Dogs can be so filthy and spazzy. I'm still a dog person though. Unfortunately, I discovered that Minette had tapeworm... Bleh. It's gone now, but I am still grossed out. Minette hasn't been allowed in my flat since. I miss my cuddle buddy.

Piha and I take walks everyday. Twice a day. Well, except if the weather is bad. But lately it has been sunny. I have already worn out one pair of jeans. They were a few years old, but they were so comfortable! They were more high waisted than other jeans, so I never had to worry about plumber's crack. I wore them on Thanksgiving because I could stuff myself silly and still be comfortable without having to unbutton my pants. And now, thanks to what I not so fondly call 'chub rub' (from chubby thighs rubbing together), there is a hole in the inner thigh area. R.I.P. Annalise's most comfortable pair of jeans. You will be missed.

Our town has plenty of dogs. Pretty much every household owns at least one dog. Usually, there are multiple. And almost all of the dogs look mangy. These two dogs are our walking buddies. They are allowed to roam free, and are very very dirty. I nicknamed them Shaggy and Scrappy. They like to bark and boss other dogs around, and chase cars. Scrappy, the little one, loves chasing cows too. It is so mean, but it is hilarious. He is a little dog, but he frightens huge cows. I don't understand why the cow doesn't just charge, but they just bow their head and back away. Scrappy keeps me entertained. But I hate when Shaggy and Scrappy decided to fight other dogs. It scares me, and it scares Piha.

So there are a few pictures of Piha, and one of Sarah. As you can see, Piha loves Silly Band bracelets. She spends 10 minutes everyday putting them on one by one. If you try to take them off, she freaks out. The only time to get them off is when she sleeps. She also loves putting on hats. She will put it on, take it off, put it on, and so on.

Lately, I have been missing Arizonan sunsets. I love the purples, and pinks, and oranges. Sunsets here are rarely colorful, but there were a few days with sunsets! The first one was just yellow, but I got so excited when I saw it! And then as the week went on, the sunsets got more colorful. I still miss Arizona. Oh, and I took a picture of the moon.

Piha absolutely LOVES Hello Kitty. You can see her Kitty phone, Kitty backpack, Kitty toothbrush. And she will soon have a Kitty bedroom. Piha also loves Teletubbies. I have introduced her to Baby Einstein, but she still prefers Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Lala, and Po. She does this thing, we call it faire du ventre, when she goes on her toes and sticks out her belly. If you have ever watched Teletubbies, they do the same thing when they are getting ready to watch TV on their bellies.

I have never seen birds migrate before. All the birds here are either starting to migrate, or getting ready to. I would have thought it was beautiful the first time, but since they were flying right over my head, I was only worried about them pooping on me.

And this final picture is of my friend, Samuel the Salamander. He scared me half to death the first night I saw him. He is a little longer than my own hand. I am pretty sure he is poisonous. And he keeps nasty critters like frogs and bugs out of my house. I think he is pretty cool.

Now I am caught up. Yay! In honor of Thanksgiving, which I haven't celebrated, I would like to share what I am thankful for. I am extremely thankful for my family and friends. Without your love and support, I would never have come to France. And without your love and support, I would have already left France. I am thankful for how much I have been given in my life. It took me a while to understand how awesome it is to: be able to get an education, have a comfortable home, have what I need, etc. But ever since I have discovered how fortunate I am, I will forever be grateful. I am thankful for my beliefs in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am thankful for God! He blesses my life in so many ways. He has given me so much. And although I am far from perfect, He loves me no matter what. I am thankful for family traditions. No matter how silly or embarrassing they can be, participating in them gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I hope everyone is enjoying Turkey Day for me. I sure will miss stuffing, and pie.

Bordeaux

2011-11-23T21:30:00.000+01:00

So here I am, finally getting back to my blog. I realize that I am not writing as often as I did at the beginning, but hopefully I will finish catching up, and get back to writing regularly.

Obviously, this post is about my trip to Bordeaux. My trip to Bordeaux was the second week of October. Piha was scheduled for surgery at a cardiac hospital just outside of Bordeaux. Pierre and Sophie said it was up to me to decide to stay in Pau, or tag along with them and head out to Bordeaux. I decided to go.

It is funny how when you are little, a two hour drive seems so long, but now that I have grown up a bit, two hours really isn't that long. It is a barely longer than most movies. It is enough time to watch a game. And in that small amount of time, you can drive from Pau to Bordeaux. I stayed awake to look at the terrain, but it wasn't all that great, and it never really changed. For the most part, we passed plenty of cornfields. And then a bunch of plain old trees. And finally the vineyards. I enjoyed looking at the vineyards most because it reminded me of some chick-flics I've seen.

When we got to our hotel, we went straight to our rooms. Pierre, Sophie, and Piha were in one room. And for the first time ever, I had a whole hotel room to myself. I felt like a big kid. After tossing my bags on the bed, I went back down the elevator to meet everyone for dinner. I'm sorry, but I honestly can't remember what I had for my main course. I remember eating a lot of bread, saucisson (dried sausage, I LOVE it), and an apple tart for dessert. But the main course has left my brain. Which tells you that it probably wasn't that good...

The next morning, Pierre, Sophie, and Piha (from now on in this post they will be known as PSP) went to the hospital to check in. I, however, slept in and eventually went down to breakfast. I don't think I have ever eaten such a big breakfast. There were way too many options, and it was an all-you-can-eat deal. I was in heaven. Every morning, I took: 1 bowl of compote (applesauce), 1 croissant, 1 pain au chocolat, 1 slice of a chocolate/vanilla pound cake, 1 bowl of cereal, 2 slices of bread, 1 sauce bowl of apricot jam for the croissant, 1 sauce bowl of nutella for the bread, 1 yogurt, a glass of water, and to top it off, 1 herbal tea in a paper cup. I am pretty sure people looked at me funny every morning, but I didn't care. The food was too good to care about anything except what was going on with my tastebuds. One morning, Pierre came down and he started joking about how much I had on my tray. Funny thing is, I had already eaten a big portion of the food. Breakfast is supposed to be the biggest meal of the day anyway.

After eating breakfast and getting ready, I left to see PSP at the hospital. I should have taken the bus to the hospital, but I didn't want to plan everything, so I just started walking. I had a map, but the map didn't show the entrance to the hospital, and I didn't know what the hospital would look like. I got to where the hospital should be, but all I saw were a group of buildings. Eventually I saw words on the buildings that looked like medical terms, but since I was still confused on which building PSP was in, I decided to bring out the phone. When I first started entering the hospital, I was concerned. I was entering through the basement and it did not look like a good hospital. It was old, the paint was chipping, the tiles were dirty, and the colors were completely hideous. Who puts pinkish-orange tiles down, and then matches the walls with the same unsightly color? I was walking towards the elevators, and there was a random hole in the floor closed off with attention (caution) tape. I kept passing things that made me question the legitimacy of the hospital, but decided that maybe it was just a France thing to have crappy looking hospitals. And maybe since I was still in a Grey's Anatomy marathon it just made the real life hospital look bad. But Sophie agreed that this hospital looks scrappy. Maybe it was just old.

I stayed with PSP to eat lunch and say hi to Piha, but she was asleep. After, I left to spend my first day in Bordeaux. I know I was told not to travel alone, but I did. I had a phone to call PSP if I was in trouble, but I highly doubted I would be in need of their aid. So I took a bus to the tram, and then took the tram to the center of Bordeaux. P.S. the tram had some very strange and smelly passengers. One time, a lady sat next to me and her stench seriously made me gag. And I was trapped between the window and her. I had no escape route. Anyway, I didn't plan out the things I wanted to see, so I spent my first day shopping. And to justify my shopping, I was in dire need for warm clothes. I bought three sweaters, a jacket, a dress, shirt, two pairs of shoes, and a few pairs of tights. I'll have more shopping to do later...

Eventually I thought it was time to head on home. I didn't want to miss the last tram, or the last bus. I got on the bus to go home, but realized that I didn't know which stop was my stop. I talked to the bus driver, and he said that he would let me out at my stop, but I think he forgot. At one point, I saw my hotel, but we just kept driving away... I thought he didn't stop because we would get closer, but then he dropped me off in some random place... I had a phone to call PSP, but I didn't want to bug them. I could find my way back to the hotel. I got back onto a bus, and I thought I was getting off at the right stop, but I was wrong. So then I was in some random area when it was beginning to get dark. At last, I found a bus that stopped at my hotel. So after an hour of dealing with busses, I was finally back in my room. And I forgot to mention that on one of the busses, I totally fell. Ha, it was embarrassing, but I don't think anyone saw me. I think I had too many shopping bags.

The other days were pretty normal. I was very happy to have bought warmer clothes, because the next day it rained. Because it was raining, and I didn't have an umbrella, I went to a museum. Lucky for me, it was free! Except the tour translator phone I rented. Not gonna lie, the museum was pretty boring. So I ditched the old stones and statues, and ventured off into the city. By this time, it had stopped raining, so I was free to see all the places that interested me. Since this was back in October, one of the fountains was running with pink water. You know, for Breast Cancer Awareness.

These are some pictures from random places in Bordeaux. The bell tower, the pink fountain, tram tracks, a giant lion statue, the grand opera, a cathedral... Oh and speaking of the Grand Opera. when I walked past the opera house, the singers were practicing! It seriously sounded like angels. I really hope that I can go to an opera show in Bordeaux sometime.

The Quero Family

2011-10-29T18:13:00.000+02:00

Alright so I am finally going to introduce everyone to my new family! I now live with the Pierre and Sophie Quero family. They are both in their mid-thirties. Pierre works in his own company that deals with architecture. And Sophie stays at home to take care of Piha, the now 17-month-old daughter. They needed an au pair because Sophie wants to study to become a dietitian/nutritionist. They can't get a nanny because Piha has a medical condition, and for some reason, nannies aren't allowed to be responsible for kids with conditions or diseases. So they searched for an au pair.

As I have told before, I looked into multiple sites, agencies, whatever, to find a new family to work for so I didn't have to leave France. Sophie and Pierre were one of the families I found on aupair-world. Which, by the way, is a good place to find a host family in all places of the world if anyone is interested. I had called a few families, and emailed a handle full of others. Out of all my options, the Queros stood out the most. I don't know how to explain it other than they just felt right for me. Anyway, so obviously I chose the Queros and they chose me, so I arrived on October 1st.

Getting here was semi-crazy. I woke up way too early in the morning (so did Juliette and her dad) to get to the train station. I don't remember exactly how early my train was, I think around 6:30 AM, but it was early. And luckily, my bags were fewer and lighter this time, although not by much, but it still helped! There weren't many people on the train yet, so I had a whole four seat open area to myself. A few stops later, a family with two young boys had seats in my little area. They were cute, and antsy. I could tell the mom was getting a little frustrated so I tried to help. I got out my laptop, and turned on Rio. They didn't speak English, but I figured the kids would like the colors or being able to watch something. The youngest boy who was probably about three years old watched for a little, but he couldn't understand so he lost interest. Every once in a while he would come back to watch, but the oldest, he was probably about six years old, stayed the entire time. I was getting hungry, so when they shared their snacks with me, I was happy! I guess one kind act is repaid with another act of kindness. We finished Rio and then started Tangled, but they had to leave before we got to finish our second movie. They thanked me, said goodbye, and left.

When my train pulled into the Bordeaux train station, I had to get off and wait for my next train. I had no idea which platform my train to Pau was. And I had two heavy bags that I didn't want to drag around in my search, so I decided to just stay put. Later I realized that I couldn't find the platform on the train information screens because the train was arriving in an hour and a half. All if the information on the screens were for trains that were arriving within the hour. Once again, I got lucky because my train to Pau was picking up where my train from Douai left off. All I had to do was get my bags on board.

When I got off the train, I didn't know where to go. Luckily I had seen pictures of the Queros, and they had seen pictures of me, but I didn't know if I should go right or left. So I followed traffic. Well, after they all past because I was having technical difficulties with my luggage... I saw someone that I thought was Pierre, so I started smiling. But I got nervous because what if it actually wasn't Pierre... Then I would look like a smiling idiot, dragging two large bags to a complete stranger. But he asked if I was Annalise so I knew it was the right person. I was so excited! Everyone was there to pick me up except Sarah, the ten year old. She was at her friend's birthday party. Piha was very friendly. She waved hello to me, she smiled, she danced, she laughed. It was adorable!

I find it very easy to talk to Sophie and Pierre, which is great! Since Sophie stays at home, she and I have already had plenty of serious and funny conversations. Sophie has traveled a lot. She lived in Ireland for a little bit. At the time, she didn't know English, but she got a job as a waitress anyway because they were in desperate need of workers. She has also been to Thailand. Sophie spent ten days there, with monks, without talking. So freaking cool, right? And she has lived in New Zealand for a long time. That is where she learned English so well. And I feel like she has been to other places too, but she hasn't told me about all of them yet. Hearing her stories really makes me want to travel more. I want to spend a week without talking in a monastery. I want to live a normal life in a different country. I just want to see the world! There are so many things I want to see, and places I want to go that I am afraid I will never get a chance to see them all. So I have spent the past week exploring options on how to travel more after France. But then I run into the problem that I should be going to college...

The Queros are a really fun family. Like my family. We have dance parties. We play loud music in the car and sing along. We joke and laugh. It is fun. It is relaxing to me because it makes me feel like I am at home. So my homesickness level here is a minimum. Well at least for now. Of course I have moments where I just miss my family and friends, but it is not near as bad as my homesickness in St-Malo.

One thing I should mention is that the Queros are vegetarian. However, Sarah is not, so when she is here every other week, Sophie will cook meat for her and I. We always have hamburgers on Sarah's last night, and we have duck very often because Sarah loves it. Duck is pretty good. It always comes with a thick layer of fat, so you know it is flavorful. And lucky for Sarah, I hate eating fat because it is chewy, so she gets to eat the duck fat I cut off. A treat from me to her. Sophie is happy that I am easy to please and not picky in the slightest because if I was, she would have a hard time making special orders all the time. And I am not a huge meat eater, so I don't really miss it.

Speaking of food, I have tried some strange and scary dishes. Sophie, Pierre, and Piha may be vegetarian, but everybody else is not. I forgot to mention that the French frown down upon vegetarians. When Sophie came back from New Zealand as a vegetarian, her parents thought she had joined a cult... Anyway, I have tried most new dishes at Sophie's parent's house. They live next door, like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I think they are afraid that I am getting malnourished here so they invite me for lunch or dinner with meat sometimes. One night, they had a plate with two types of sausages and some clumpy dark reddish-brown blob on it. I was going to try it all without asking about the questionable items, but Sophie told me what it was anyway. The strange looking clumpy stuff was coagulated pig's blood with onions. Oh ew! I was repulsed by the thought of eating blood like some creepy vampire wannabe, but then I remembered one of my the pacts I made with myself. I would try anything and everything new, even if it sounded disgusting. So I scooped up some pig's blood and plopped it onto my plate. It actually didn't taste that bad. It definitely wasn't the most scrumptious food, but it wasn't the worst. But I still decided I didn't want more. I tried it and that was enough for me.

Another day, I went to Sophie's parents for lunch. There were serving a Spanish dish of rice and different seafoods. There were shellfish, chicken, rabbit, and shrimp mixed with the rice. Whole shrimps. Like I'm talking tails, eyes, legs, and antenna things. I didn't even know shrimp had antennas. To eat them, you would cut off the head and then peal off the shell until it looked like an American shrimp. I discovered that rabbit is actually pretty tasty, although I thought of Maurice, Pepita, Regis, Jean-Michel, Chantal, Martine, and the little baby bunny when I was eating the rabbit meat off the bone... There were also little fish served as a side dish. They were served like you would serve chips or fries. And they were fried.. whole. Their little eyes were staring at me. Once again I had to remind myself that I was going to try everything. So I closed my own little eyes and popped one into my mouth. I tried not to think about all of the scales, bones, fins, and organs I was eating. And it wasn't that bad, but I didn't want anymore whole fish in my digestive system.

I am turning into a huge herbal tea drinker. Sophie knows that I don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea, so whenever they are ordering/offered coffee, she asks if there is a herbal tea for me to drink. And she makes she it is herbal tea and not regular tea. So because people drink coffee here like it is water, I drink a lot of herbal tea. And I have found that I like it a lot. For one it is getting cold, so a warm drink is nice to have. And for two, it is soothing for me to have a minty drink before bed. It helps me sleep better!

All in all, I think I am going to like it here. I will get to see a legitimate autumn season in the country, I have a church close by, the family here is amazing, and most importantly I am comfortable. I fill like I fit in here. Sophie and Pierre said I am welcome for as long as I want, so now I don't know when exactly I will come back. I plan to stay as long as it takes for me to become fluent in French. So it will be a while before I come home. But people are welcome to visit, so start buying plane tickets! I would love a visit from family or a friend! :)

Unfortunately the only family pictures I have are from my Photo Booth on my MacBook. So most of the pictures are distorted. But at least you get an idea of my family! And a good laugh...

This last one is classic. Every time I look at it, I am instantly thrown into nonstop laughter.

Douai/Lille/Arras

2011-10-22T23:22:00.000+02:00

This post is for the entire week I spent with Juliette (who I also call Juju or Ju). I love her. And I have discovered that her family is amazing and I love them! They were so beyond generous for letting me invade their home for a week while I figured things out. I am so happy I got to spend time with them. They didn't know much English, and I still don't know that much French, but we were able to communicate. Juliette's brother only knew the phrases, "Amazing!" and, "I can't believe it!" And he said them all the time.

I arrived in Douai Friday night on September 23rd. Getting there was very easy, except for having to drag all of my very heavy luggage around. Hey, don't judge me. I was packing for a year, and I wasn't supposed to repack my bags and move at all during that year. Luckily, two British women helped me move my bags from one train, to the next. I felt bad for Juliette's dad because he carried most of luggage, and he was the one who carried them up and down the stairs. Juliette kept saying that I brought too much stuff, and she is totally right. So by the end of the week, I sent some things back to Arizona, but not much. And it cost me 70,30€ to do so. That night was Juliette's dad's birthday. So they had friends over for dinner and a little party. But Juliette and I went to a burger stand (it has the best burgers I have had in France so far) and ate back at her house.

Saturday, Juju and I went to Lille to meet with Annie who worked at an au pair agency. This could just be any city in France, but it was packed with people and people were smoking everywhere. It wasn't my favorite place. It was a beautiful city, but I did not like all the smoke. We got to our meeting place (Australian Bar) early, and we realized we didn't know what she looked like, and she didn't know what we looked like. But Ju asked around and we found Annie and her coworker. Eventually, more au pairs started showing up. I guess they were having a big au pair meeting. There were people from all over. There were groups speaking Russian, Spanish, French, English, and I am sure there was another language around there somewhere.

After the au pair meeting, Juliette and I went her friend Mathilde's house. It was her birthday, so their friends were getting together to celebrate! Mathilde's house was the best decorated house I have ever seen. It was so stylish! First we stayed at her house for a while so we could wait for people to arrive, open presents, and hang out. Then we went to a club and had some fun dancing together. It was a lot of fun, and we stayed out very late. Unfortunately, Juliette and I missed the last tram back to Mathilde's house, so we stayed at one of her other friend's house for the night and went back to Mathilde's in the morning.

We went to Juliette's grandparents house a couple times. Her grandparents were very nice people too. They made the best fries that I have ever had in my life! They were so heavenly! They had just the right amount of salt. They were warm. They weren't crunchy or soggy with grease. They were perfect! They were fresh.

When Monday finally came around, Juliette and I went to school. I didn't have anything else to do during the day, so her dad arranged for me to go to school with Juliette. So Monday morning we woke up bright and early so we could drive to the train station, take a train to Arras, take a bus that dropped off close to the school, and then walked the rest of the way. School in France is different. They have different schedules each day instead of the same schedule every day, every week. Juliette's first class was economics. It lasted for two class hours. I felt bad, but I kept nodding off. I was bored by economics when I took it in English, so sitting through it in French was even worse. In one of Juliette's English classes, they talked about what people think about when they think of America. The biggest things were fast food, McDonald's, and Coca Cola. So congratulations Americans. We are sticking to our stereotype of being an obese society.

I was supposed to go to that same class on Thursday to share what reminds me of my home country. But unfortunately Juliette got sick so we didn't make it to school for the rest of the week. We were extremely lazy for the rest of the week. Juliette had an excuse because of the sickness, but I didn't. I watched Grey's Anatomy started from season one, and Juju watched Fast and the Furious starting with the first one. We both got pretty far in our series by the end of the week.

One day, we attempted to make cupcakes. With the exception of Juliette, her family has never had a cupcake before! Crazy I know! So we looked online for a recipe and started cooking. I am so used to baking with a Bosch mixer, and measuring with simple measuring cups and spoons. Luckily, the recipe was in the French style, so all we had to do was weigh our ingredients and mix it with a wooden spoon. Right at the beginning we received a sign that we should stop. I tried to get an egg out of the carton, but it was stuck. I was pulling and pulling (I don't know why I didn't just go for another egg) until it broke. And it was oozing everywhere and still stuck in the carton. Juliette's mom couldn't find cupcake holders at the store, but she did find bigger, but still small, cardboard cups. We filled those 3/4 full. When the time was done, the cupcakes were not. And they were about to spill over. So we took them out and put them back in. When the little cakes were finished, they looked hideous. They were connected to the tops of the cups, and then they sunk down like a crater. And they looked like dry sponges. We ignored our ugly cupcakes, and made the frosting. Once again, this was a failed attempt. We added too much milk, so it was too runny. We tried to fix it by adding more powdered sugar, but then it was wayyyy too much sugar. The French don't really eat super sweet things. Chocolate pastries are with smooth, dark chocolate. Cakes don't have frosting on top. So when we frosted a cupcake for each of us to test, we got sick from so much sugar. And after I felt like my lips were sticky. Everyone in the family tried one, but I felt bad that the cupcakes weren't good.

So Here Is The Story...

2011-10-08T23:31:00.000+02:00

Okay so I am finally getting time to tell everyone what happened and why I haven't been posting. I have a lot to write about so it might take a while to catch up. But I might get lazy and just leave out a lot of details. I will try not to.

This story takes place starting on Wednesday, September 21, 2011.

Anyway, I am not with Karine and Bertrand's family in Saint-Malo anymore. I woke up Wednesday morning, skipped breakfast because I wasn't that hungry, and caught up on emails to my family. My family emails me a lot. Especially when I don't respond or go MIA on Facebook. I love you family. Back to the story. So around ten o'clock in the morning, Bertrand knocked on my door asking if he could come in. Of course I said yes, so he sat down on my bed and started talking. He brought up the bus situation (I started feeling guilty again) and eventually said that he thinks it is best that I leave. Okay! That was definitely not what I wanted to hear. Ever. I think he saw my very shocked expression on my face because he started explaining his decision more. He said that he doesn't think I am ready for the job, and that I don't have the responsibility to get things done. That made me think about all the things that I had to suddenly change in order to do my job here.

For one, waking up the girls. Anyone who knows me knows that I am definitely not a morning person. If I have the chance, I can sleep all the way into the afternoon. Even though it makes me feel groggy and disgusting when I finally get out of bed. I am the type of person that sets their alarm an hour earlier than they intend to wake up because I press snooze every time my alarm makes a peep. But when I wake the girls up for school, I hear the alarm and jump up out of bed to the girls' rooms.

Maybe I am wrong, but doesn't that take responsibility to change yourself so you can do your job? I don't know maybe there were other things that show how 'irresponsible' I am for myself and for others. Okay, the bus thing. Yeah that was big. I got to the bus stop five minutes early, just like any other day. I guess if the bus is earlier than I, then I am still late. After I Monday, I had definitely learned my lesson about busses, so I changed and made sure I was at least ten minutes early for the bus. Enough, I have to stop obsessing about the bus ordeal. I can't change it now.

I asked Bertrand if there was anything I could do to prove to them that I wanted to be here, or if there was anything I could change to please them more. He said no. I couldn't believe that this was it. After all the work, time, and crazy adventures I went through to get myself to France, all of it was over. And I wasn't even getting a second chance to make things right. I didn't even know what I did wrong, other than the bus of course. I asked a number of times what I did wrong, but I never really got an answer besides that it isn't anything personal, they just don't think I am ready. I am still frustrated that they didn't tell me because how am I supposed to change or adjust in order to better myself if I don't know what is wrong. I never had a warning, and the whole thing is very confusing. No one really knows what happened. I am sure part of it is because I am only their second au pair. They had Andrea who, by the time she left, knew the language, knew the family schedules, knew how to do her job the way the family wanted. I was still learning. And I know I am young and I still am learning more about myself and trying to mature, but I still wish that they gave me a warning about this first... I think I am going to email them. I want answers!

Also, when I was talking to Bertrand, I was under the impression that I needed to pack and get on a plane that night or tomorrow. I thought that they were kicking me out on the street! Well at least to their parents' house in Paris, so I could catch my flight the next day. He told me to look at flights, which I did and they were very very expensive. While looking at tickets, I had one big thought. No. I was not going home. They could ask me to leave their home, but they can't make me leave France. I have a visa that lasts until next August! There is no way that I was only going to use it for a month in France. And I haven't even seen any tourist parts of France! No Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame. No Mont St-Michel. No Louvre. No anything! So then I went on the internet to find au pair sites.

I signed up on a free one called aupair-world.net and I also started calling people to find a place to stay. The first person I called was my friend Juliette. I met Juliette my sophomore year of high school during softball season. She was a foreign exchange student from France, and she was the manager of the softball team (a girl from her host family was an athletic trainer for softball). Obviously we became close friends because softball ruled my life both inside and outside of school. She suggested that I try studying at a school instead of the au pair thing. And if I decided to stick with the au pair thing, I should definitely go through an agency. So she gave me a number. I called that number, and they gave me a new number. I called the new number and it was an au pair agency called Solution Au Pair. I talked to a lady named Annie and she told me not to worry or stress and go to Juliette's in Douai while she looked for a family to place me with. I was discovering that it is very easy to find family's to au pair for in France. I was already getting emails from families on the website too.

Despite the crazy circumstances I was under, I was very calm. I felt like France wasn't over for me. There was no way that all the small miracles that happened to get me here were only for a month in France. So instead of blubbering in bed about how I got fired and have to leave France, I searched for other opportunities.

I was packed and ready to go by 2 PM, but I had to wait for my dad and Bertrand to talk about what was going on, and what I was going to do, and things with the contract. That didn't happen until after dinner. It was very awkward for me to be around for dinner. I knew I was fired, and that it was my last night, but I didn't know if the girls knew. If they did, they didn't seem sad. Ever. That is kinda a sad thought. And by this time at night, there were no more trains to Rennes.

Apparently, it was okay for me to stay for a few more days, but since I was packed, and I was fired, I didn't want to stick around. I could've stayed with Brooke, but they were relatives to the family that asked me to leave, so I thought that would be a little awkward too. So the next day, Karine drove me to my bishop's house in Rennes. I was going to stay there for the night until I could get on the train to Douai where Juliette lived. The bishop and his family were very generous and kind for letting me stay. And I was very grateful for that. (P.S. I love that my bishop's family owned South Park glasses. When you think of South Park, you don't really think of the bishop). I stayed there Thursday, and halfway through Friday, and then I was off to Douai to see Juliette!

So that is the basic story of what happened. There is still a lot more to this story, but I cannot handle typing anymore right now. I feel like I am writing a paper for school... But don't worry! I am still in France and I am with my new host family. They are awesome!

Stay Put

2011-09-26T21:01:00.000+02:00

Things have been beyond crazy this past week. I have so much to tell, but hardly any time to write the story! So I apologize for the delay in posts. But this time, I have a legitimate reason. Basically, I am not with Karine's family anymore and I am finding another one. I will share the details later. Be patient! I hope to continue blogging soon!

P.S. To all who want to FaceTime me, I am sorry but I can't at the moment. My laptop can't hook up to the internet at Juliette's house so you are all just going to have to wait and put up with email. Sorry.

Rien Ne Sert De Courir, Il Faut Partir À Point

2011-09-20T22:57:00.000+02:00

This morning, the girls had troubles waking up. I had to wake them up earlier because we had to take the bus, instead of either Karine or Bertrand driving them to school. It is funny how I can see myself in the girls, especially Sarah. I was always the one that my mom or dad had to wake up 20 different times. I could sleep through lights, music, and even a good shaking. Even though waking the girls up was difficult, we still got out the door, and to the bus stop with several minutes to spare.

I decided to start being more productive. Sitting around when I am home alone gives me way too much time to think about home and how I miss everything there. So I got ready, caught up on my blog, cleaned, studied, and put away a small stack of clean clothes. I decided it was best to leave earlier to pick up the girls. There was no way that I was going to miss that bus again just because I was five minutes early instead of six minutes. I was 20 minutes early. I didn't like having to stand and wait that long for the bus to arrive (it was a few minutes late today), and when I arrived at the school, I realized that Véronique was picking the girls up. She picks up Marion and Sarah every Tuesday. So instead of taking the bus back home, I got to ride in the car.

Since I had finished all my little tasks, I started to write today's post. After, I sat with my French family just to keep them company. Plus I was determined to show them I care about them and that I was very sorry for being late to get the girls the day before. I had to show them I was serious.

Une Mauvaise Journée

2011-09-19T09:59:00.000+02:00

This morning was just like any other normal school day. Woke up the girls, ate breakfast, went back upstairs to sleep for an hour, got ready for class, and then eventually went to class. A little bit after lunch, I started to feel sick. I am really getting tired of getting sick. Obviously it is something I am eating, but I am not positive on what my allergy is, or how to completely avoid it. I have narrowed the suspects down to goat products and strong tasting yogurts. I wish there was a way to find out the culprit with 100% surety!

So here is where the inspiration for the title came from. Une Mauvaise Journée means a poor day. I was walking to the bus stop to pick up the girls from school, and I saw my bus drive past the stop. The bus was six minutes early! I started to panic because the next bus was in 20 minutes and I would be 20 minutes late to get the girls! So I started speed walking and eventually ran. At one point, I thought I was taking a shortcut, but it just got me lost. Oh and I forgot to mention that it started raining. So I finally get to the school 15 minutes late to get the girls. And we missed our bus back so we had to walk home in the rain.

The girls didn't seem too flustered, but when I talked to Karine on the phone after the girls, she said they were about to cry. Okay I already felt terrible, and that just brought my mood down 10 notches. Obviously Karine was not happy, no one was, but all I could really say to her was I understand and I am sorry. She told me to stay with the girls and get them relaxed. I offered to make hot chocolate, get them a treat, but they said no to everything. So I unloaded the dishwasher and then told them time to do homework with Gypsia and some music. Well, I tried saying that. They looked confused, but eventually caught one. By the time homework was finished, I think the girls were in a better mood. I'm convinced they don't like me, especially Sarah, but hopefully I will be able to think of ways to win them over.

I felt very awkward when Karine got home, but eventually got over it. When dinner started, I wasn't that hungry, plus I felt sick, but I ate anyway. I thought that eating in silence was better than hiding in my room from conflict. Dinner was very good! And the mood wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Karine drove by the bank to inquire about my debit card that we setup my second day in France. Yeah, it definitely should have arrived by now. Turns out, that they did put on order on the actual card yet. So hopefully I will get that in the mail soon. So now if I want money, I just have to go to my bank and give them my name and info and I can make my withdrawal.

As time went by, I kept feeling more sick and bloated. If this happens to anyone with an allergy, please let me know this is normal. I always thought allergies were hives and closed-up throats, but every time I bloat and throw up. Anyhow, I tried going to bed early, but instead I had to run to the bathroom. Although I hate throwing up, I always feel so much better after. So after swishing with water, mouthwash, and brushing my teeth again, I slept like a baby.

Typical Sunday

2011-09-18T15:52:00.000+02:00

First of all, I feel like my English is getting worse and worse here. Each time I sit down to write a new post for my blog, I notice that writing gets harder. Each time I have to think harder about how to say things right and how it is supposed to sound. So I am apologizing again for any grammatical errors you have seen or will see. Okay.

This morning Brooke and I woke up on time, and it wasn't raining outside! We took the metro to the main bus stop (last week we didn't realize you could use the same ticket for buses and the metro, so we ran to the bus in the rain). Even though it wasn't raining, it was very chilly. For all you people in Arizona, or people who have lived there, it felt like an Arizonan cold winter morning. The sun is coming up, but the air feels a little icy. In any case, to me, it felt like a winter morning, and it still summer... I know I say this all the time, but I am going to turn into an ice cube in the winter if I am freezing in the summer.

Just like last week, someone from the ward (this week it happened to be Bernadette, she has been a member in this ward for the longest). Once again, church was good. This week Brooke, Jennifer, and I went to class with one of the missionaries and a visitor. So I got to hear a lesson in English! But we went back to French for sacrament meeting. I might've fallen asleep a couple times...

The missionaries, Brooke and I took the bus and the metro together since we were all heading in the same direction. I wore my tallest heels to church (bad idea, I am already tall compared to most French people, so I was a giant, but I love my heels so I wore them anyway), but brought sandals to change into for the walk to and from church. There is no way that I could walk on cobblestone in five-inch spike heels.

When we got home, we planned to change, rest and then head out to see the parliament building because it was having a free tour. Unfortunately, I was tired and I am capable of sleeping for hours, so my nap that I intended to be 45 minutes turned into a few hours. I have given Brooke permission to wake me up from naps, especially if we are planning on going somewhere, but she is too nice. So we missed out on the parliament building. I felt really bad. A) Because I really wanted to go. B) Brooke really wanted to go! Darn my ability to sleep...

Back To The 60's

2011-09-17T20:00:00.000+02:00

Saturday I slept in. Brooke stumbled upon a tutoring job teaching English to some French kids. Lucky girl. I know I could sure use some extra cash money... Anyway, so I slept in for a while and eventually got ready for the day. Brooke came back by the time I was finished, so we ate some lunch (cereal) and ventured out in the city of Rennes.

First we went to this ginormous flea market. There was so much junk. People sold old dish ware, clothes, shoes, movies, books, and the list goes on. I swear some people went to a junk yard and tried to sell rusty old school bikes and TVs. People even tried to sell creepy old dolls that had no hair, or the eyes were gone. I don't know who in their right mind would buy that junk. Out of all the stands, Brooke and I only bought some nail polish. I forgot to bring mine from Arizona, and my nail polish was about gone. Besides, each nail polish was one euro.

Today, we also played with the kids. I was so happy that Marie-Faustine was playing with me! She joined Aymeric and Guillaume and they all started jumping, tackling, trying to tickle me. I still hate being tickled. Marie-Faustine doesn't know English and she is 3 years old. She is adorable. Every time we say something to her in English, she will laugh because she doesn't understand. After the jump-on-Annie session, Brooke, Maelle-Marie, Aymeric, Guillaume, and I went to play Don't Eat Pete. I haven't played that game since preschool!

After that, we planned to go to the museum. Unfortunately, Brooke and I left were the museum was, to a place where we thought the museum was located. We ended up between the library and the movie theater. Brooke and I decided to see a movie instead. We intended to see La Guerre Des Boutons, which we did see, but it was different. I think the one we wanted to see was a part II. Anyway, the movie looked cute, but we were totally lost with what was going on. Later we were told that it was hard for people that were fluent in French to understand. Oh, well good thing we tried watching it! It's okay, I really love the theater chairs.

After the movie we went to a little restaurant called Back to the 60's. It is supposed to be like an American style diner in the 60's. Brooke and I really wanted a burger. Back to the 60's is more expensive than the other restaurants in the area, but they sold root beer and cheeseburgers so we needed no more persuasion. To be honest, we were both a little disappointed. The missionaries said it was delicious, so I was expecting a burger as good as my brother Robert can make. Our first mistake was ordering medium-well burgers. We forgot that here in France you really have to tell them to cook it or else it will come back cold. Anyone who is coming to France, remember that! So I'm sure the burgers would have been better with a warm burger, and if I got a special burger instead of just cheese and lettuce. I must say, it was very strange to eat a burger with a fork and knife. The whole time I was tempted to just pick it up with my hands. Same with the french fries (which were delicious by the way). Next time, I will be sure to ask for a well-done, almost black burger.

Sea Breeze

2011-09-16T19:58:00.000+02:00

I don't have a post for Thursday because it was pretty much the same story as Wednesday. It took a very long time to get the girls to do their homework. But eventually they did it. I was going to go to the beach, but I just sat outside instead.

Friday after breakfast, I went back to sleep for a while because my class was starting at 14h (2:00) instead of 11h (11:00). We use military time here, I'm still trying to get used to it. Around 10h, I got up, got ready, and headed for the train station. Instead of just buying a one-way ticket like I have the past two times, I got a round trip. That way I didn't have to remember about my ticket on Saturday, and have to run to the SNCF store at the last minute.

I took the bus to my class because if I went home first, I would be late. When I got off the bus at the Châteaubriand stop, I could smell the salty ocean in the breeze. So instead of sitting outside of my class for 45 minutes, I sat by the sea. It is amazing how nature can boost your mood. The way the waves sound, the salty smelling breeze, even the seagulls squawking. Nevertheless, the ocean did something to lift my spirit. Plus, I finished my homework that was due on Monday.

Later Friday night, Brooke and I went to our JA activity. Remember JA = YA (young adult). We took the metro to the bus station, and then we took the bus as close to the church as we could, and had to walk the last distance for about 10 minutes. It was dark, and we kept talking about scary things... We just about peed our pants in fright when a house close to the sidewalk started to close its shutters. I really wish we could see a playback of these moments. I'm sure it would be hilarious to see me jump and cling onto Brooke.

Anyway, we made it to our activity late. They were playing pictionary. They had to pick something out of a hat to draw on a chalkboard, and the drawer was also given a rule they had to do while drawing. Some people had to run around the chalkboard, jump, or balance pool balls on a tray while drawing. Then the drawer's team had to guess what was being draw. I lucked out on not going, but Brooke didn't. Brooke had to run around the chalkboard while drawing. She seriously only drew a guy stick figure. It was supposed to be Leonardo DiCaprio. I'm not sure how we were supposed to guess that...

Nothing Exciting

2011-09-14T22:57:00.000+02:00

Today was a bad day for me, and a day off, so I have almost nothing to talk about. I woke up feeling super homesick so it was really hard to get out of bed. I skipped breakfast. Sat in bed till 1 in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day today, so I wish I went to the beach, but I just couldn't get motivated to do anything. I started reading Pride and Prejudice, but couldn't concentrate on it anymore. Then I watched Rio, but I got sick of watching it. Really, I just wanted to listen to the songs. When it was over, I fell asleep for a little bit. I felt bad that I was sitting in my room all day, so I got up and started cleaning my room. Véronique was here today so she took the girls to their lessons and such. I didn't really see anyone until dinnertime. I hung out for a bit, then went back upstairs to do my homework and organize my room some more. I found out my church is having a youth activity on Friday night, so I am hoping that I will be able to make it to Rennes on Friday. Sorry for the boring post! I hope I have better, more exciting news for you all tomorrow.

Locked Out

2011-09-13T10:56:00.000+02:00

While I was getting ready this morning, I noticed two things. 1) I couldn't find my shampoo or body wash anywhere. 2) I was also missing deodorant. My guess is that one of the girls hid them. Hopefully just for fun, but who knows, it could also be because they were mad at me... Anyway so because I was searching through the entire house for some deodorant (which I couldn't find so I went without), I missed the 10:24 and the 10:34 buses to my class. There is a 10:44 bus, but I never took it because I was afraid it would make me just a little late to class. But today, I had no choice. So I get off the bus, and start walking the small distance to the class and realize I passed it. It was already a little past 11:00, but I didn't want to run. I was really trying not to sweat because I didn't have deodorant and I didn't want to smell bad! Luckily when I got to class, my classmates were still waiting outside the door.

On my way home, I stopped by the supermarket to buy more shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, and deodorant. Deodorant here is weird. They don't have the normal stick stuff, its all spray or liquid roller, which I don't like. But I just had to settle.

When I got home, I called Elo to see if the little soirée was still taking place tonight. She was still waiting on news from another girl, but she said if other people can't come, we should just go to dinner. Later she called to say that the soirée was on! I was so excited to get to know my classmates better, especially since they all know English. It is funny how when I meet people who know English, I automatically stick to them like glue. I think it has something to do with me being able to communicate with them. Anyway so I planned to take the bus as close to her house as I could and walk the rest of the way. To get home, I already had a ride figured out. I told Elo that my bus was at 7:12 and she said she would look out for me.

First problem I ran into, I looked at 17:12 not 19:12. So the next bus was really at 19:31. I had to wait in the wind and cold for quite some time. Second problem, I wasn't exactly positive of where Elo's house was. I kinda just walked in a general direction that I remember from google maps. I remember her telling me that she lived in an apartment that was new, and there was construction outside that you could see from her balcony. So I had clues on where she lived, and I could definitely see new buildings (it is very easy to tell which buildings are new and 'modern' and which ones are old), I just didn't know exactly how to get to them. Finally I got to a street that led to new houses and walked down that road. And when I was walking by the apartments looking for Elo, she found me first! She was so happy I found her apartment because she was so worried! I didn't have a phone she could call to find me. But I made it.

It was nice being independent from my family. I really like my family and enjoy being around them, but it annoys me how dependent on them I am. So this little soirée was very nice. There were only four of us; Oswaldo, Elo, Thamine, and I. We spent the time talking about each other. It was funny because they are all 28 and I'm 18. They all have a significant other, wife, husband, boyfriend, that are French, but here I am single and not so experienced in the relationship department. So I just listened. At some moments I thought how neat it was to be hanging out with people of other cultures. We had an Estonian, Mexican, Brazilian, and an American (me). Obviously, I didn't feel like the exotic addition to the party. I don't believe there is anything exotic about being American.

Anyway, we talked for a long time about the French language, grammar, the frustrations of not being able to speak, and the culture. I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one that is still not sure on how the cheek kissing works. All I know is that it takes a long time to say hello and goodbye because you have to go to everyone and give two kisses. It will probably take a while for me to get used to people getting close to my face. Although I like the cheek kissing, it still makes me feel a little uneasy. I believe that I will miss good 'ole hugs. So if any of you come to visit, give me a hug!

Thamine and her husband gave me a ride home, which I was thankful for. I had my keys and everything to be able to get inside the house, but the door wouldn't open. The door has three locks. One for the handle, and two dead bolt sort of things. My key doesn't work for the dead bolts. I didn't want to ring the doorbell because I didn't know who was asleep, and I couldn't go to a window to find someone because all the shutters were down. So using one of my keychains items (a scoubidou that my friend Leah made me), I pushed open a little opening on the door that is used as a peephole. I could see a light was on in the living room; someone had to be awake. So I stood outside the house for 45 minutes knocking and talking in the little people hole door. Finally, Sarah had walked downstairs (she must have been asleep and I woke her... oops, but thank goodness) and caught Bertrand's attention. I finally got inside, and went straight to bed.

I Have Friends!

2011-09-12T18:56:00.000+02:00

Today is a very short post, because nothing super special happened today.

This morning I didn't even need to wake up the girls. Gypsia was mewing and the girls were so excited that they got up as soon as they heard her to play with her.

There was a new student in class today. His name is Oswaldo and he was born in Mexico, lived in New York for five years, and now lives in France. So now there are three girls, one boy, and me. Elo decided to throw a little party for us so we can get to know each other better. I look forward to going so I can get some friends in St Malo!

After I picked up the girls from school, they went straight to Gypsia. Trying to get the girls to do their homework, practice their music, and shower was extremely difficult. I sat with Marion while she did hers, which was nice. I'm sure I will learn some vocabulary while doing homework with Marion.

Gypsia

2011-09-11T18:33:00.000+02:00

First of all, it is 9/11. It is so weird being in another country on such a day of remembrance. Normally, I would hear about it all day on the radio, television, and there would even be something about it in church. But here, no one ever mentioned. I only realized the significance of today when I wrote the date on a paper. I want to thank all those who are out serving our country and protecting our freedom. You are all strong, amazing people. Come home safely.

This morning, Brooke and I woke up late. Originally we planned to wake up earlier so we would have plenty of time to walk to the bus that took us to church. But because of our tardiness, we had to skip a lot of steps to getting ready for church, and walk fast to the bus. When we got outside, it was sprinkling and we didn't have time to get an umbrella. I am so happy I decided to bring sandals for church this week instead of heels (poor Brooke wore heeled boots) because we walked very fast over cobblestone and ran part of the way too. It was a good thing we decided to run because the bus was already at the stop when we got there. Brooke and I barely made it on! So after a 20 minute speed walk/run in the rain and a 10 minute bus ride, we still had to get off and walk to church. Lucky for us, some people from our ward pulled over and gave us a ride the rest of the way. We showed up to church quite damp. People told us that we should always have an umbrella handy because in Bretagne (Brittany) rain can come out of nowhere. Good to know...

Once again, I was lost in every class. The lessons were on chastity, but since I couldn't understand what they were saying, it was the only time that the chastity topic didn't seem awkward. Since it is the second Sunday this month, our church had a big lunch for all those who could stay. There were so many options I did not know where to start! I wanted to try everything on the tables, but I didn't have enough room on my plate, or in my stomach. Everything I put on my plate tasted delicious! My favorites were a type of pasta salad with cheese and meat, and some other type of mixture with tuna, corn, tomatoes, and something else. And when I went back for dessert, I had the same problem. So many choices, but not enough room for everything. Brooke and I were so happy to see that our cookies were eaten until the box was empty! And a pastry chef even commented on how good they were! Aw yeah! It was definitely a proud moment.

I have realized a sad thought. Going to church is going to be an expensive ordeal. I have to buy my train tickets to and from Rennes which would be 21 euros at the most for one weekend, and then I have to ride buses and a metro on Sunday to get to church which is around 3 euros. I could buy a bus pass so I don't have to pay Sunday, but that is around 100 euros. So all you people in America that live around the corner from a church, be grateful. Because I have to spend around 40% of my paycheck on travel just to get to church.

When I got back from Rennes, Karine told me they got a cat! I'm a dog person, but I don't mind cats. And when I got home I saw the cutest, tiny black kitten. The reason why they got a cat was because they found this poor little kitten in a random area all by itself mewing. They named her Gypsia and she is about three weeks old. She is stinking cute.

Sarah, Marion, and Gypsia

Captain America

2011-09-10T18:32:00.000+02:00

This morning, I almost missed my train to Rennes. I had stayed up too late the night before Skyping a friend and because of that, I had a really hard time getting up in the morning. I packed so fast, that I forgot some things, like my toothbrush. But it was okay! I made it to my train and arrived in Rennes an hour later.

Brooke and I went out to lunch and then went to find ingredients to make cookies. We decided to make a treat for our church's lunch party on Sunday. At first, we planned on making homemade oreos (if you haven't had them yet, you need to make them) but we couldn't find pre made frosting in a can. So instead of homemade oreos, we decided to make nutella cookies. It was very hard to find ingredients. We had no idea where to find baking soda or baking powder (if someone can tell me the difference between these two items, please let me know), but the Troadecs had baking powder (baking soda can be found at pharmacies in France).

When we finally got home with the ingredients we needed, we started making the cookies. It was so hard. I never knew that baking could ever be so complicated. If we had the measuring cups and teaspoons that we usually use, I'm sure it would've only took about 15 minutes tops to make the cookie dough. It took us forever to try and figure out the conversions from cups to grams or ounces. Also, some ingredients here are a bit stronger than in America. Like cocoa, for example. So the cookies were veryyy chocolatey.

After cooking, I crashed. I felt bad because I know Brooke wanted to go to a museum, but instead I pretty much passed out on the couch. Too late now. But we definitely plan on seeing some sick châteaus and that museum too.

Later that night, we went to see a movie. It took a while to walk there, but we still arrived for a movie very early (we were the first ones in our theatre). It was a good thing though. Brooke and I wanted to get this card (it's free) that allows us to get discounted tickets, but we had no idea where to find them, or where to buy our movie tickets... So we copied the people around us and bought them at little electronic booths. After we had bought our tickets for Captain America (plus one euro for the 3D glasses) we found out how to get the discount cards. Oh well. It felt like it was my first time in a theater. We had no idea where to go or where to buy things. We didn't know where the theaters were or how to find them. But we made it into the movie with snacks.

Before the movie started, a man tried asking Brooke something. We just laughed and said we don't speak French. Later we thought about that little incident. The guy probably thought we were very weird to see a movie in French when we didn't know French. I have no idea what they said in the movie, but I understood what was happening because I could see! Watching Captain America reminded me why I love super hero movies. The guys are always so hot.

Vouloir, C'est Pouvoir

2011-09-09T18:08:00.000+02:00

The title for today is another favorite saying of mine. Vouloir, c'est pouvoir is the French way of saying, "where there's a will, there's a way." Meaning, I am going to learn this language. When I study, I just want to go ahead and finish my whole study book in one day! But then I have to remind myself that doing that would be pointless. There is no way that I could go through a 400 page book and remember every small detail about it. I just have to be patient. Good things come to those who are patient; is that the saying?

Anyway, I went to my class again this afternoon. Since it is Friday, my favorite teacher was in charge of today's class. I can already tell that I am going to prefer Tuesdays and Fridays because... A) Elo and I are the only students these days. B) The teacher speaks slower and makes sure I understand what she is saying. C) The material is easy cheesy basic information. I am sad that I only get two hours of learning in there.

After class, I decided to head on over to the train station to buy my ticket to Rennes. So I took the bus (I really am becoming a pro bus-taker) and got off at the station. Since I don't have my debit card yet, I couldn't buy my ticket at one of the electronic booths (at the booths I could easily 'cheat' my way through buying a ticket because they have English, German, French, Spanish, etc. text options), so I waited in line to talk to an actual person. I noticed that my line had an English option, but when I got up I told the lady I wanted to try and use my French. Once again, I was successful with buying a ticket using French! I was so proud. It really is the best feeling when I have a successful purchase, order, conversation, or whatever while using French only.

Unfortunately, I had to wait for the next bus for 30 minutes. However, since I was starving, I went to get lunch. I was so happy to see a family food place! Subway! So once again, I started my order with, "Je parle un petit peu français." The man answered in a thick French accent, "I speak a little English." While I was beginning my order about the bread, meat, and cheese, a big lady next to me was translating for me and speaking very loudly. My first thoughts were... 1) I can see the food items that he is pointing to. 2) I don't really remember wanting help. 3) Just because I'm American doesn't mean that I'm retarded. 4) Yes, I know what cheese is. When the man was asking if I wanted cheese, the woman kept saying cheese really loud and slow. I understand that she was trying to be nice, and help me, I could see that by the way she smiled and giggled, but it just made me feel annoyed and dumb.

Patricia, the house cleaner, was still at home when I arrived, but since she was vacuuming, she didn't notice me walk in. I wanted to stay out of her way, so I went upstairs in my room to eat my sub (I frightened her when she walked past my room later). Oh man, Subway here is 10x better! The bread choices here are different than in America, unless parmesan and oregano is a choice in the USA too. And the vegetables tasted fresher than they usually do when I eat at Subway. And even though they don't have mustard, well normal, American mustard that you put on hot dogs, the South Western sauce was delish! I don't know, maybe it just tasted amazing because I was missing American food and I was starving. After all, hunger is the best spice.

Remember how I spent eight hours in the sun not too long ago? Yeah well because of that sunburn, I am peeling now. It is gross, but I can't help but pick at the peeling skin. One of my friend's said I was like a snake, and it is totally true. I have never been able to peel so much at one time. Sorry if this is grossing you out. I will stop...

P.S. When the girls and I got back from their school, I went to study and they went to play. They came in my room in the strangest outfits I have ever seen!

I Have Discovered My Allergy

2011-09-08T19:14:00.000+02:00

I think the meal that the girls made last night contained goat cheese. Once again I woke up this morning feeling sick. My stomach felt like it was tied in knots! I asked Sarah what exactly was in their sauce, and she said goat cheese. One of the reasons why my host family eats goat cheese is because Bertrand and Marion are allergic to normal dairy products from cows. And it turns out (at least I am pretty positive) I'm allergic to their substitute, goat products. I think it is pretty funny, but I am sure it'll turn out to be annoying when I am trying to make something that needs dairy. Good thing they have soy milk here. I've gone all through life without being allergic to anything, until now, and it is lame. I really like goat cheese! But now I can't have it, unless I want to wake up sick.

Anyway so I woke up this morning feeling terrible, but both Karine and Bertrand are out of town so I was responsible for bringing the girls to school. I skipped breakfast. Instead, I sat close to the bathroom, you know, just in case. I was nervous I was going to puke on the bus, so I brought a gallon sized zip-lock bag. Thankfully, I made the trip to and from their school, and even the whole day, without throwing up. I felt better after taking a nap.

Later, I went to my class. Today I had a different teacher. I don't remember either of my teachers' names, but the younger lady (she speaks slower so I can barely understand) teaches on Tuesdays and Fridays. The older lady (who speaks a lot faster and with words I have never heard) teaches Mondays and Thursdays. Class is going to be very hard for a while. Luckily, Elo knows English, so I can ask her questions after class if I need to!

When I got back from class, I watched a movie. Don't ask me what it was about because I don't know. Well I think I have an idea. It was an action movie, similar to Mission Impossible, about a man trying to figure out who assassinated his adoptive father. No one knew about this secret adoption. His father happened to be the owner of a massive, wealthy company, so because of this man's new inheritance, people were attempting to assassinate him as well. Parts of it were in English, French, and sometimes German, I'm guessing. Even without the dialogue being in English the whole film, I understood it was very intense! But I don't quite understand the ending.

I have discovered how to get the girls to do what I want. Candy. After they do their homework, shower, etc. I reward them with a caramel or their choice. It is a beautiful thing. Until I run out...

Tonight for dinner, we were supposed to have left overs from last night. Karine had mixed their sauce into the extra rice and then Sarah and I chopped up some tomatoes to add. Since I figured out goat products were in the sauce, I had to make something else for me. Well, I just heated up some leftovers from another dinner. Just so you know, we don't have a microwave here. I don't know why. Maybe their old one broke, or they just didn't feel like using a microwave. Anyway, I am learning how to live without the convenience of a microwave.

Bon Appétit

2011-09-07T19:11:00.000+02:00

Today, the girls did not have school. France has school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. They do have longer school days though. Instead of going 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM, they do 8:20 AM to 4:50 PM. Anyway, so the girls had a day off. We slept in, had breakfast late (9:00 AM), and sat around. I was in my room studying most of the morning, and the girls read or made little art projects. Karine was going to bring McDonald's for lunch around 1:00, so I prepared a salad a little before then. McDonald's here is good! Brooke believes it is because of the bread, and I totally agree! I worried that I will get back to America and everything will be ruined for me.

After lunch, I wanted to do something with the girls. I asked the girls if they would like to make bracelets, which they agreed to, so we needed to find the materials. We weren't exactly sure where we could find the materials, but we went out to find them anyway. Unfortunately, the materials were not at the big store, but they did have a ton of candy! I bought chocolates and caramels instead of material for bracelets. I didn't want our trip to the store to be pointless... Besides, I was really craving some chocolate.

We waiting for the bus while chewing on some delicious sweets, and shortly after boarding, we realized we were going to wrong way! Well, Sarah realized. Marion and I were too distracted with the delectable candies in my tote. So we got off at the next stop and started speed walking to another bus stop. I had no idea where Sarah was leading us, but felt like we should run. We started running until finally we saw the bus stop! I really hoped that we hadn't missed the bus, because I really didn't want to run anymore in sandals and carrying a massive tote. Luckily, while checking the schedule, our bus pulled up! We boarded, panting and hot. Unfortunately for us, the bus was extremely humid and smelly. I don't know why the driver didn't prop a window open...

Sarah really wanted to make dinner, and if Sarah wanted to, then Marion wanted to also. So I studied some more, and the girls started making dinner. I kept hearing loud noises, some fighting, and some blending. Every time I got worried, I would go check on them. Each time I peaked inside, the kitchen got messier and messier. I don't know if it was a total experiment, or if they tried to duplicate one of Karine's dishes. They were putting some mixture on peeled layers of chives and then wrapping it like a burrito. I was worried that the onions weren't going to be enough to eat, so I made some rice, and it's a good thing I did! The girls set the nice table in the living room, and pretended like Karine and I were guests at a fancy restaurant. They brought in the plates, and they looked awesome! I didn't know 10 and 8 year olds were capable of fancy presentation on dishes. And the dinner was pretty good! For dessert, the girls served blended strawberries frozen in a bowl, with yogurt and whipped cream on top. All in all, their dinner was a success.

My First Day

2011-09-06T23:33:00.000+02:00

After I woke up the girls this morning and went downstairs for breakfast, Karine informed that I was to start my French class today! I felt both nervous and very excited! I was excited to start learning the language and possibly make friends, but I was nervous I wouldn't be able to find my class and that my teacher would only speak French. It is hard to learn when stuff is being explained in a language you don't know. So after everyone left for work and school, I got ready for my class. The bus went faster and stopped closer to my school than I thought it would. So I arrived super early. Today is very windy and cold, so I stood in the small hallway outside of my classroom. Eventually the small class before me (mornings are for people that pretty much speak French, and the afternoons are for beginners, like me) ended and I entered! Today, there was only one other student. Her name Elo and she is 28 and comes from Estonia. She is living with her boyfriend in St Malo. The teacher was hard to understand just because she was speaking French the whole time, but luckily the class lesson was very basic information.

I came home to find my laundry clean and neatly folded. Patricia, the cleaning lady, is a pro clothes folder. And everything looks ironed. I wish she knew that she really doesn't have to give my clothes special treatment. But now I feel like I will keep my drawers more neat so I don't mess up Patricia's pro folding. It is nice not having to do my own laundry...

I have run into a problem. When I try to tell the girls to do something that they don't want, I don't know how to get them to actually do it. I spent 20 minutes today trying to get Sarah to practice the piano. Which is funny because I remember hating playing the piano when I was little. Maybe it's karma... Eventually I gave up and figured Karine could take care of it and I could ask her how to handle it better. I didn't want to do something like take the book from her or drag her downstairs because I didn't know if that was crossing the line. Plus the only things I knew how to say were yes and please. But I have permission from Karine to be more firm.

For dinner tonight, we had this yummy potato salad! It had smoked fish in it. I don't know if they were scales, but the shiny silver outside of the fish was still on the meat. I really liked the flavor of the salad, but my mind was having a hard time eating the fish with the scales still on. Funny how something can taste so good, but because your mind wants to think it is gross, you have a hard time swallowing. For the third night in a row, we had this delicious apple crumble for dessert! For all those who make a crumble for pies or other treats, try adding some oatmeal to the mix. It is fantastic!

P.S. Thank you all who read my blog! I have hit over 1,000 views! Woo! I hope to continue to keep my readers happy.

Girls' First Day

2011-09-05T23:37:00.000+02:00

Today was Sarah and Marion's first day of school. I woke them up this morning; opened the shutters and a window, turned on some music, and threw their clothes at them. After they got dressed and ready for school, we ate breakfast. France is going to turn me into a big breakfast person. Instead of needing a lot of preparation and cooking, breakfast here just requires bread, cereal, fruit, and jam. Only in France would there be a cereal that has chocolate in it. Why does America not have this cereal?! Nothing is better than starting the day with some delicious dark chocolate in my cereal.

When Bertrand or Karine are here, they will take the girls to school. This morning, I went with Karine to see where to pick them up and what route the bus will take before stopping. We also stopped by the music school for the girls. Sarah plays the piano, and Marion plays the trombone. Then Karine dropped me back off at home and went to work. I didn't know what to do all day. It was so quiet and I was alone. I took a nap, sat outside, worked on my blog to catch up, started some emails, and spent a lot of time on Stumbleupon. For those who don't know, Stumbleupon is a site where you can check your interests, and random things that apply will show up. Today I read a lot of psychology articles, craft ideas, saw some really cool pictures, and learned some random facts. For example, George Washington grew marijuana in his garden... Strange.

I was nervous for the bus. I wasn't positive about where the bus stop was or what time the bus came. To make matters worse, I have never used a public bus before. I was ten minutes early for the bus, but that gave me time to write down important times for that stop. When I was on the bus, I realized we weren't stopped at all the bus stops. I had no idea how to let the driver know which place I needed to stop at! I noticed a light would go on that said stop needed, but I didn't know how to make that light go on. Fortunately, the place that I needed to stop at had people that wanted to board. On the way back with the girls, they showed me the button I need to push when I want to stop. So from now on, I will be a pro at riding on the bus.

Sunday Train

2011-09-04T22:54:00.000+02:00

Today, Brooke and I went to church. It was so weird to me that my church is in another town one hour away, plus it is about 15 minutes away from Brooke's house in a car (we will usually take the bus). I have grown up with a church three minutes away from my house. And Mesa has LDS churches everywhere. I was surprised to see the building looked pretty much like church buildings back home, except the building in Rennes is tiny. Church starts at 9:00 AM even though there are quite a few people that have to travel from other cities, like me. Not sure who decided nine o'clock was the best time. Anyway, church was different. For starters, the songs were in French, not English, and we had no idea what people were saying. Luckily, there are people that know English, so they translated for Brooke and I. The couple missionaries in my ward are from Mesa, AZ! People at church are very friendly, and I am excited to feel like I have friends now! I'm happy that I have something here in France that is familiar, and, apart from the language difference, similar to home.

After church and a little nap, Brooke, her host family, and I went to a manmade canal system. I forget what they are called, but I think it is similar to how the Panama canal works. Besides the dirt paths, everything was so green! But do I really have to keep saying that France is green? I think you all get the idea by now, but growing up in a desert, green places amaze me. There were some really cute houses at the gates. Their are people that are paid to live there and push a button for the gates to let boats come through. Sign me up!

Sadly, we had to leave because I had to catch the train at 6:30 PM to head back to St Malo. The train pick up/drop off is seriously right around the corner from Brooke's house. Apparently we had to tell the conducted that we got on at the Pontchalliou stop instead of the main train station. I don't know why it matters, but they can fine you for it! Lucky for me (it seems like I have a lot of luck in France), a lady knew English and was boarding with me so she informed the conductor about both of us. The train was pretty full, so Corinne and I sat by each other. She also lives in St Malo, and is a teacher. She loves traveling and has been through most of the US. Her English was good because she lived in New York for a year. At our stop in St Malo, she gave me her contact information incase I wanted anything from her. Or needed help with something.

I forgot to check my email before I left to see if Karine knew I was coming back. Because the busses don't run on Sundays, I needed Karine to pick me up. So there I was at the train station, no phone, no internet, no way to make sure I was getting home without walking. Corinne noticed I still looked very lost and offered a ride, but I didn't feel comfortable going with someone I met on a train, even if she helped me so much and gave me advice on the train. Ten minutes after getting off the train, Karine pulled up. Rennes was amazing and fun, but it was nice to be home. Well, home in France.

Rennes

2011-09-03T22:46:00.000+02:00

Before I talk about Rennes, I want to mention something else first. Since I try and use English with the girls, even though they have no idea what it means, they have picked up on a few things. When they want my attention they will say, "Annalise, come on please." They will say it until they have my attention. Since Annalise and please rhyme, they love starting with my name and ending with please.

Today Brooke and I ventured around Rennes, and I loved it! We spent all day Saturday just walking around the main part of the city. We started at the marché, AKA farmers' market. It was very crowded, busy, and totally awesome! Unfortunately I only have pictures from just a small corner of the flower section, but I guess it will give you a small glimpse of the marché. One great thing about the marché were the street performers! There were a few guys who played the accordion and it made the air sound like France. I wanted to say I bought something from the marché so I ended up buying one peach. The guy was trying to see if I wanted anything else because people don't usually buy only one peach. I had no idea what he said. So I just gave him a confused look and said uhhhhhh.

After the marché, we continued to walk around the shops and stores. I wanted to go inside every shoe store, but luckily, I was able to resist. I did buy a watch, hat, and some other things. One of my purchases was my ticket back to St Malo. We happened to walk buy a train ticket store, and walked in. At first we didn't know if it was actually for buying tickets or if we would be able to buy a ticket using what little French we knew. But we walked up to one of the desks and tried asking if they spoke English. Either the man knew no English, or he just wanted to see how crappy our French was, but he made us use French. I was very surprised and proud to use only French to buy my ticket. I could barely understand his questions and I remembered vocabulary I learned in high school about tickets. Brooke and I walked away giggling with satisfaction at our successful purchase.

Later, we went to a big green, flowery, beautiful park. On the way, we past a breathtaking church! I don't know if I will ever stop being amazed at the beautiful architecture in Europe. And I don't understand why America didn't think about making buildings as beautiful as in Europe. Also, I wish we had more churches with stained glass like the cathedrals here. I could sit all day staring at the all the colors in the windows. Anyway so at this park, we stopped at a little ice cream stand. We did know how to pronounce the items on the menu, but luckily there were pictures we could point at while saying, "I would like that." Behind us, there were two French guys that started to laugh and mimic us. Of course we started laughing because we knew we sounded silly with our bad pronunciation and accents (it's weird to think that I have an accent). We tried talking to them for about five minutes, but it eventually got to a point where we didn't understand each other so we just walked away. The park was massive and we didn't really know where to go, so we ended up wandering aimlessly down the paths, eating our ice cream. In time, we got tired of walking and decided to sit down on the grass.

Brooke and I really wanted to eat lunch and dinner at restaurants. The closer it go to lunch time, the more nervous I got. We tried studying my French phrase book from the food section, but there were so many things to remember... And we didn't know if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait for someone to seat us. I guess we are supposed to seat ourselves and they waiter/waitress will come to us. Anyway, we were totally lost. The menus were in French of course and we only knew what a few of the items were. We had a dictionary, but honestly, I did not want to be 'those' people who were totally ignorant. Even though we kinda were... Lucky for us, we happened to be sitting next to two Americans from New York! They explained the menu and how to ask for food and such. Our next problem was pronunciation. Of course we ordered a crepe that had a billion ingredients in the title. Brooke ended up pointing and saying what translated to I would like here. Our waitress understood and since Brooke ordered first, and we were ordering the same thing, I only had to say, "la même chose," meaning, the same thing. For dinner, Brooke wanted to go to a crêperie she went to with her host family because they had English menus. When we got there, we weren't exactly sure if it was open or not, we saw people sitting down, but they looked like customers not owners. We asked if they knew English and sure enough, one of them did! We still had to ask if they worked there, if they were open, and if we were supposed to seat ourselves. All of which he answered yes. Oh I just love how out of the loop we are. It is quite comical, but mostly frustrating. I loved this crêperie. I ordered a dinner crêpe that had smoked salmon, chives, and crème fraîche. It was superb. But the absolute best part of dinner was the dessert. I got something that had a ball of vanilla ice cream coated in finely chopped almonds and toffee with a small meringue center. Then it was drizzled in the most magnificent salty caramel I have ever tasted. If I can't have that stuff in heaven, then I don't want to go. Ha kidding. But really I wish I could buy the caramel in a jar and sit in my room all day eating it by the spoonful. Brooke laughed at me because I was eating slowly (I'm a fast eater. In a big family, you had to eat fast if you wanted to have seconds.) and on my first bite I could stop my mmm mmm good sound of satisfaction. After she tried the caramel, she couldn't blame me. I definitely have to go back to that crêperie each time I go to Rennes...

Coup De Soleil

2011-09-02T23:45:00.000+02:00

Today was a beautiful day! The sun was out and shining, no clouds in sight, and the sea was sparkling. Unfortunately, I decided to wear jeans and a jacket to the sailing lessons... I don't know why I did such a crazy thing on such a marvelous day. I ended up sleeping while the kids were at their lesson, and when I woke up, I was sweating. At that point, I really regretted my outfit for the day. I only wore jeans because I didn't feel like shaving this morning, but I wished I wore shorts anyway. Lucky for me, Karine came to tell me that she was going to bring lunch and, if I wanted, a swimsuit! Of course I wanted my suit. I was jealous of the kids running and playing in the blue water! So when Karine came back, I changed and headed out to the water. I knew the water was going to be freezing, but it was a hot day (80 degrees for the high) and I wanted to go for a swim. Just so you know, I am one of those people that has to jump into the water or else I won't get in. If I try to ease myself into cold water, I chicken out and go some place warm. Today, I had no place to jump in the water so I had to force myself into cold water (60 degrees for the high this time of year). It was freezing. Eventually my legs just went numb so they weren't a problem. Maelle-Marie told me I just have to start swimming, but I wouldn't do that. I didn't want to go further, but I didn't want to chicken out either. So I splashed myself until I thought my skin could handle the shock. The water still chilled me, but I was swimming! And eventually I put my head under.

I forgot to mention earlier that I rarely swim in the ocean. I am deathly afraid of sharks and because of that fear, I don't go in water that I can't see whats going on AKA California beaches. I know the chances are very small to have a shark encounter, but what if I am the 1 in a million. They are fascinating creatures and I love watching things and learning more about them, but don't joke around about sharks if I'm trying to go in the ocean. Anyway, so while Maelle-Marie and I were venturing out into deeper water, I made the mistake of mentioning my fear of sharks. I believe that sharks won't be in cold water and as far North as St-Malo, but Maelle-Marie saying the 's' word gave me massive anxiety. She finally stopped when I turned around to walk back.

We were at the beach from 9:15 AM to 5:00 PM, plus a 15 minute walk home. Since I kept falling asleep while laying out, trying to get a tan, I forgot to put on sunscreen... I'm not lobster red, well not yet, but I am still sun burnt (which is where the inspiration for the title came from, coup de soleil = sunburn). So while I am typing this, I feel like I am radiating heat. Too bad it's not a cold night. But the places that didn't get burnt are getting darker. I am determined to get tan, and slowly but surely, it is happening. Hopefully I won't peel from this sunburn later...

Since Maelle-Marie, Aymeric, and I needed transportation to Rennes this weekend, Brooke and her host family came to St-Malo for dinner (plus we had a lot of crab and bucket of shellfish the kids caught to eat). It was a lot of fun! First of all, I got to meet Guilhem and Marie-Faustine, the younger kids Brooke takes care of. Guilhem, 7, is just as crazy and loud as Aymeric and they could almost be twins. And Marie-Faustine is a chatty and adorable 3 year old. We had dinner at the beach and played some volleyball. After dinner, we started a long-jump competition. Eventually we went back home for dessert and left for Rennes.

Brooke and I are very excited to have some time to ourselves, not that we don't like being with the kids. We plan to go to a restaurant, the farmers market, and church. I am looking forward to seeing the city. Unfortunately it is hot and humid, so I hear. And Rennes doesn't have a constant breeze like St-Malo. But no matter the weather, I'm sure I will have a good time.

Crab Hunting

2011-09-01T23:02:00.000+02:00

I really wish I knew more French. The old lady that swims everyday came back and sat by me. We were able to ask each how we were doing, but that was as far as the conversation went. I think I am going to write some phrases on my hand to say to her... Anyway so today at the sailing lessons while lying on my towel soaking up some rays (it was sunny and warm today, about 75 degrees for the high), I noticed the waves were getting closer to me. I thought I was crazy so I just sat there for maybe five minutes and realized that the tide was coming in fast. So I had to move to a small sunny spot in between boats. Luckily the water never got close to me again. Once again, another old Saint-Malo native (the majority of the people here are old/older) tried to make some conversation with me. I tried to say I didn't speak French, but I don't think he heard... I don't know if it is me, or if it is just these peoples' elderly ears. So I just nodded and smiled until he was done speaking. Good thing he didn't ask me any questions... I decided to lie down and pretend to sleep while listening to my iPod. That would prevent anyone else from trying to talk to me!

When we got back to the house, Bertrand's mother, Veronique, was home making lunch. We had rice mixed with some red cabbage, onion, artichoke, pickles, and some type of crustacean meat. I don't know what it is with pickles here, but they use it in a lot of salad type of things. I don't know if I particularly like the addition of pickles, but I'll eat it anyway. Veronique made an apple dessert. I don't know what it was called or how it was made, but I will try my best to describe it. The bottom crust tasted like an egg white, but it had a sort of bready type of texture. On top of the egg bread was tiny chunks of apple and cinnamon and sugar to top. Basically, it was like an apple pie but with no crust on top and a thicker eggy bottom crust. It was absolutely yummy!

This next piece of info is for my dad. I haven't really cooked anything new. And I really haven't cooked all that much this week. I remember cooking vegetables. The dish had broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, potatoes, and left over rotisserie chicken. I remember watching Karine make a similar dish so I copied something she did. I cracked one egg and added some soy milk (Marion and Bertrand can only have soy or things from goats) and mixed them together. Once the vegetables were hot and the butter was melted, I added the egg and milk mixture. It tasted similar to Karine's vegetable dish so I think it was a successful copy. Other than that, I haven't really had to cook much. But I'm sure this next week I will have more things to share with you all.

After lunch, we went crab hunting again. There was no way that we could have a meal with only four crabs. At first, our hunt was pretty pitiful. We could only find teeny tiny baby crabs that were the size of a dime and fish (one fish jumped out of the bucket at my face so I through it back in water; I was not going to deal with fish jumping at me). Eventually the kids asked an older man for help. He was glad to help. So the next two hours, he lifted huge rocks to help the kids find crabs. We were very grateful for his help because when he joined our crab hunting crew, it was nonstop crab catching! Eventually I got tired of picking up all the pails and shovels the kids ditched and following them, so I just parked myself in the middle of the area they were searching. The buckets were filling fast! So my job turned into the crab watcher. The only buckets we had were little pails for making sand castles, so the sneaky crabs would try and crawl out. My job was to poke them back into the pail (I had gloves on) and settle any fights between the stacked crabs. The pails were too full for any more crabs so Maelle-Marie and Marion ran to empty a trash bag I had and started putting crabs in there. The old man helped the kids all that time and with all that crab. When he was finally parting ways with us, I thanked him and understood what he said back! I can't remember how exactly it was said and with all the words, but it would translate to, you're welcome, it was fun for me. Funny how the day before we spent two hours hunting and only caught five crabs, and today we spent a little over two hours and caught a grand total of 39 crabs!

Later that night, we had crab for dinner. And I'm sure we will be eating crab tomorrow as well.

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Cœur Qui Soupire N'a Pas Ce Qu'il Désire

2011-08-31T15:01:00.000+02:00

Sorry I have been lazy everyone! I'll do my best to keep posting everyday. This post is for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The title is my new favorite French proverb! If you translated the words literally, it would say "the heart that sighs does not have what it desires". It sounds beautiful in French, and it is used when someone seems unhappy or is longing for something. We would say, "Hey you look sad, what's wrong?" I can't wait for the day I can actually use this saying and understand the response.

Speaking of responding to the French people, there has been a few times where a French person tried to start a conversation with me. The first time was a photographer that was tried to sell photos of the kids sailing. Luckily, I said, "No merci," and he walked away. Then next time was a middle-aged woman. She noticed I was speaking English and asked if I was English. I was very grateful that she was trying to use what little English she knew. I explained to her using basic English and basic French (what I like to call franglais, français + anglais) that I am an au pair and I am an American. Eventually we ran out of words that we knew, so we said our goodbyes. The third incident was when I was sitting on my towel on the sand. An old woman that takes a swim every morning started chattering away about something. I tried to tell her that I don't speak French, but she didn't hear me. She just kept gabbering away until I said, "Je ne parle pas français," louder this time. Then she kinda just sighed and said oh la la and went to basic questions. I once again said that I was an au pair and American. She asked if it was for my studies. I said no, but didn't know how to say it was just for an experience and to learn more of the language and culture. Then she said, "Vous êtes très jolie," which means you are very pretty. At first I didn't know if she was saying I was pretty or something else, so she clarified with the word belle (beautiful).

I have decided to show you how crazy the tides are here, so I took pictures of the ocean before and after the sailing lessons. Insane, right? P.S. the beach was FREEZING! I was in jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweatshirt laying face down on a towel with my hood on. I probably looked ridiculous, but my spot was warmer so I didn't want to move...

When we got home from the lessons, Bertrand had his mom and some friends over. I guess we were supposes to eat before they got here, but I didn't know that until we were walking home 40 minutes after the lesson ended. Anyway it worked out and later I went to the beach with the kids again. Living by the sea here makes me want to always live by a beach... It is so relaxing! And I'm getting a slight tan.

So on Wednesday, it was pretty much the same story as Tuesday. Except on Wednesday, we went back to the beach to hunt for crabs! We weren't too successful in our hunt, but we did catch five. But I guess I can only say we caught four because one ran away at night...

I learned that I don't have to do any of my own laundry while I am here in France. I'm beginning to think that this au pair thing isn't even a job! I feel like I'm getting spoiled here! My phone was activated so I can now contact Karine and eventually Brooke. And I'm finally going to get to go to Rennes this weekend! I am so excited! Rennes is bigger than my city, and since it is a college town, there are people my age. So Brooke and I plan to go to a restaurant and finally attend church. I love Saint-Malo, but it is filled with older people. At least they seem nice! I'm sure when I start my French class in September, I will finally see people my age. Hopefully there is someone who speaks English...

Naptime

2011-08-29T22:29:00.000+02:00

This week, the kids still have sailing lessons. But unlike last week, all the lessons are in the morning. This morning, the sea was the closest it has been. I had to pick a different spot to camp out on the beach. It was a beautiful day! Not too hot, not to cold, a nice breeze, and lots of sun. I was in the sun for the majority of the day, and it looks like I got some color! But then again, it could just be the lighting from this room... Since it was so nice out, I let the girls go for a swim after their lesson (today it was just the girls, Aymeric was having surgery in his mouth). On the way home, I bought some chocolate and caramel and shared some with the girls, after their lunch of course. For lunch, I had to cook meat similar to burgers. Sure I've cooked chicken and fish before, but I don't think I have ever cooked beef before, especially on the stove. I think it turned out alright. I just wish I didn't cook it as long.

Later today, there was an ambulance and police car outside the house. The girls were very excited about them, but no one knows what happened. My guess is that some elderly person fell and couldn't get back up. But I could be wrong. While the girls played with their toys in the backyard, I tried to take a nap. My first mistake was leaving my window open. The stupid cop cars outside kept opening and closing their doors, I kept hearing neighbors talk, and a dog started barking. After the dog, I got up to close my window. Then Aymeric came back with his mom from Rennes. I think I slept 5 minutes when I had originally scheduled out an hour. Oh well, c'est la vie.

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The Pirate Labyrinth

2011-08-28T14:53:00.000+02:00

I think I'm allergic to a type of cheese here. This morning, I woke up sick again. I find it extremely strange that I have woken up two Sundays in a row, sick to my stomach, when I rarely get sick. It reminds me of when I was little and somehow got a sickness, that didn't come with a fever, every Sunday morning before church... Okay, but this time, it is for real. So from now on I get to test cheeses to figure out which one is making me sick. Lucky me.

Today, Karine, Aymeric, Brooke, and I went to a pirate themed corn maze. Bertrand and the girls went swimming at his mom's house, but because Brooke and Aymeric needed to take the train back to Rennes, they went somewhere closer to the station. The Labyrinth was fun! Aymeric ran ahead down different paths to see if they went through or were just a dead end. Within the maze, there were little riddles and illusions that we had to solve. Of course the riddles were completely obvious, but we still managed to get them wrong. The best one was... The father of Maryse had daughters named Chacha, Cheche, Chichi, and Chocho. What was the fifth daughter's name? I won't say the answer, but when we checked our answers, we all got a good laugh at how obvious the answer was. At the end of the maze, there were bounce houses and other blow up courses. On my favorite course, you were attached to elastic bands and had to run as far as you could before it launched you back to the beginning. On my first try, I ran until the velcro belt ripped off. It was hilarious! I think we got some pretty sweet action shots, and laughs, from this event.

My random piece of information on this post has to do with my name. I absolutely love how the French pronounce my name. It makes me believe I am actually a French mademoiselle. Instead of the normal pronunciation of Annalise (anna-lease) they pronounce my name like anna-leeze. Okay so I just said it out loud, and from the typed pronunciation, it sounds lame. So I am just going to tell you all to keep in mind that they have French accents. Maybe I'll record someone saying my name here and post it...

P.S. Once again, if you want to see more pictures, click on this link
---> Facebook and you will be lead to my A Year in France album.

P.P.S. I think I am going to start putting the Facebook link at the bottom of every post. So if you see it, click Facebook for more pictures.

Intramuros

2011-08-27T14:43:00.001+02:00

Today Bertrand took me and Brooke to the old city in St-Malo. From the outside it looked beautiful! The walls surrounded a city with tall buildings and cobble stone streets. There are lots of shops inside the old city. Now I know where my first shopping spree will be... Don't get mad at me Dad! My favorite building within the walls, was the cathedral. I really wanted to take pictures from the inside, but I felt like it would be rude to all the people lighting candles or praying. Bertrand lead us to the top of the walls and the view was amazing! The sea was so clear and colorful. I even saw the Bon-Secours beach (before coming here I looked at the beaches and Bon-Secours was my favorite, it was a pool, including a diving board, that gets filled with the ocean). Bertrand tried to explain more about the history of St-Malo, but I was too distracted with the sights. Oh well, just means I have to go back! Unfortunately, it was very cold and very windy, especially on top of the walls. It is summertime and I am already freezing. I will probably have to do my winter clothes shopping soon because my Arizonan wardrobe is definitely not prepared for the weather I will be experiencing...

Later, while Bertrand and Karine were playing a match of tennis, the kids, Brooke, and I walked to a park to play. We brought some sport equipment to play volleyball, bocce ball, and badminton. I tried a couple of times to play volleyball with Aymeric, but it wasn't very successful. I don't know if any of you have tried to play volleyball with a nine year old before, but I can tell you that it is more like playing fetch. Good thing he had a lot of energy to run after the ball. The girls just wanted to play house/restaurant. They made Brooke, Aymeric, and I pretend like we were customers and they were the people who owned the restaurant. I'm not gonna lie, their pretend dishes looked pretty legit. I wish I took a picture of the main dish. They found big leaves for plates, and then picked a whole bunch of wildflowers to act as the food. Aymeric threw his food, and I picked off the petals and tried to put them in Aymeric's hair. Brooke was the only one who didn't play with her food. Then for dessert, they took the birdies from the badminton set and put leaves and flowers inside. After 'eating' our meals, we played cops and robbers in a darker, creepier part of the park. Oh yeah, we are awesome au pairs... It was fun, until I stepped in dog poop.

This is of me freezing.

Speaking of poop, Karine bought pink toilet paper! I know. Very random, but c'mon, you don't see pink toilet paper everyday! The last time I saw pink toilet paper, it was strung through our trees by some anonymous kid(s). Another random thought, the candy I have tried here is pretty good. The kids are obsessed with a candy called Scoubidous. They remind me of Twizzlers but longer and colorful. And they taste better. The other day, Brooke bought some chocolate called Côte D'Or. It was soooo good! I've been making lists about the best candies here, but I do miss a good 'ole Butterfinger. And peanut butter M&M's. Those two are my favorite! I wonder if I will be able to find them somewhere...

Rain, Rain Go Away

2011-08-27T08:00:00.000+02:00

Bonjour! First off, I found out why there are shutters we close every night. It's to make the rooms dark! Because the sun stays up past 8, we shut the shutters in the kids' rooms so they can fall asleep easier! I guess you can use shutters to prevent Peeping Toms as well... And I have a few pictures of my room to show you all. There isn't much to see because it is so small. At least in the winter, when it is freezing, my room will be able to heat faster. If the heater is working... And yes, my computer screen is showing blogger in the first picture.

So today started out sunny and beautiful! We ate lunch outside in the sun, and Brooke and I wore our swimsuits the the sailing lesson. We laid out maybe 10 minutes and then the sun was blocked. Eventually I put my jacket and shorts back on because it was getting cold. So much for getting a tan today... People got up and left the beach when the thunder started, but Brooke and I just sat there. I mean, it was just thunder. Maybe three minuted later, it started to a sprinkle. And within a minute, the sprinkle turned into pouring rain! We threw everything back into our cart and started to run away, but we didn't know where to hide! Luckily, the shed where all the life jackets are stored was open. So, both of us hid there hoping the rain would stop soon. Then this big old lady ran into the shed huffing and puffing. I have no idea where she came from, but she was in a swimsuit that she eventually took the top off. She did have a towel to cover herself up, but it didn't do its job very well... I saw way too much and it was really hard not to giggle. Well it poured for about 10 minutes and all of a sudden it stopped. We were soaked, and all the kids came back from the sea (some of the boats even blew over!) and then the sun came out. It is really weird how fast the weather can change.

I have one more random thing to tell you about. I bought a small satchel to use in France. I wanted a smaller one because I feel like it would be much harder for people to pick-pocket out of a tiny bag that I always keep in front of me. Plus there are no outside pockets. Anyway, I am amazed at how many things I can pack into this tiny purse! I can fit... my phone, passport, a pack of gum, my camera, my iPod, my keys, my chapstick, money, and then I still have enough room to stuff in something small like a travel sized bottle of lotion. I call it my Hermione purse because it is seriously magical. I guess I could call it my Mary Poppins bag too...

And I was wondering if anyone knows how to change the main language on Google? My Google is in French and I can't figure out how to change it to English.

Pastries

2011-08-25T23:41:00.000+02:00

Today was a lazy day. I slept in and then just laid in bed for a while because I was so comfortable. I missed eating breakfast with everyone this morning... Oops. Somehow I didn't see anyone until the afternoon, even though we were in the same house. But eventually I saw them and we went to the beach for, you guessed it, the sailing lesson. It was a little more rainy today so Brooke and I decided to walk around town instead of sitting on the cold, wet beach under an umbrella.

We started off trying to get into the Chocolatier, but it was closed, so we went to the boulangerie instead. There were too many things to choose from so we each chose two things. I got an éclair du chocolate and a beignet filled with nutella. Oh man was I in heaven! I tried eating it slow so it would last longer, but it didn't last long enough! I'm definitely going back for another éclair soon...

While eating our decadent pastries, we decided to try and find a museum about Jacques Cartier, who had something to do with discovering Canada. The road to the museum had no sidewalk, we didn't even know if it would lead us to the museum, and every car driving past was going wayyy too fast. Oh and it was practically a one lane road. It was very sketchy, but we kept pushing our little yellow cart down the road. We stopped a few times to take some pictures. First for flowers of course. I couldn't say no to the sunflowers! And when we got closer, there were even more colors of flowers! Then we stopped at a cemetery. Creepy? Maybe. But I liked how all the tombs were above ground. Eventually we got to the end of the road and we saw a sign for visitors parking, meaning we found the museum! But we got nervous because there weren't a lot of people and it sounded like we missed the tour. So we turned around and walked back towards town.

Eventually we found ourselves sitting on wet rocks, waiting for the kids to come back from the sea. It was raining and I didn't know what to do, so I decided to take some pictures of the seashells I found on the beach there the other day. I love them because they actually have color unlike the shells I find on California beaches.

If you want some more pictures, go to my A Year in France album by clicking on this link here ---> Facebook.

Hooray for Soleil!

2011-08-25T08:00:00.000+02:00

First off I want to thank all of you who read my blog! I looked at my stats today and saw that I had 84 views yesterday! I don't know if that is above average or anything, but it made me feel special. It makes me feel good to know people are liking this thing. I hope I can keep all my fans happy!

Yay! Today was finally sunny! Which is where I got the inspiration for this post's title. Soleil is the French word for sun, and is pronounced so-lay. So hooray and soleil rhyme! Anyway, today was sunny so Brooke and I finally got to lay out. We always joke about how white we are compared to Saint-Malo's locals, and because of our whiteness, people can probably pick us out as tourists. We are determined to get tan! But the weather hasn't really been cooperating... For once in my life I put on sun screen, so I feel like I didn't get a lot of sun. However, Brooke did not put on sunscreen... Which is why she is so red in this picture.

We spent all day at the beach. It all started with a picnic, then the kids' sailing lessons, sand castles, laying out, etc. Which brings me to a horror story... I pulled out a towel from our little bag/cart thing and then I saw a massive, black spider crawling towards my hand! Brooke is really scared of spiders. I usually don't mind spiders unless their big, like the one today. We probably looked silly running around a towel screaming. I tried to flip it off, but it was like latched on the towel! I finally flicked it off with a shoe, but no one wanted to use that towel after the spider dilemma.

After coming home to have goûter (snack), we went to a beach close by to make sand castles and roads. Well the kids and Brooke made them, I wanted to get tan. We only stayed there about 40 minutes because we had to get back so the kids could shower before dinner, and so Brooke and I could make dinner. On the menu you tonight was spaghetti! I love making spaghetti. I love being able to flavor something by taste instead of a recipe. It makes me feel like I am a legit cook. I like to think my spaghetti is delicious. And what do you know, the family literally wiped the pan clean of the sauce. We only had noodles left over, and everyone laughed at me when I put them in a zip-loc baggy. Hey, it is normal for my family back in AZ...

Speaking of AZ, I miss it! Well, basically home in general (which includes Utah). I miss being able to take long showers. Here I have to use the water to get my hair wet, turn it off, rinse the shampoo, turn it off, rinse conditioner, turn it off, and so on. The water finally gets warm by the time I'm done. And the kids don't ever flush the toilets here. Ha so that is a little annoying.

I'm homesick. I miss my friends and family. I miss some modern conveniences USA style. And I miss talking to people I know! So feel free to email, FaceTime, or Skype me! My email and FaceTime is annalisekatherine@gmail.com and my Skype name is annalise.katherine.dyer I like talking so call away!

Which One is the Grossest... Speedos or Canned Peas and Carrots?

2011-08-23T22:54:00.000+02:00

Nothing super special happened today. Things went the same as yesterday for the most part. The kids' lessons started later today because of the tides or something. And for some reason, I thought the lesson was 30 minutes later than yesterday's when it was actually an hour later. So when we got to beach, we were extra early. Since yesterday was so cold at the beach, I decided to bring sweatpants to put over my shorts while we waiting for the kids' sailing lessons to finish. Oh boy was I happy I brought them. We had the same weather as yesterday, minus the random sprinkling showers. Brooke and I decided we are going to start bringing French books to read at the beach. That way the two and a half hours won't be a total waste of time. Although, I don't think nap time is ever a waste of time... While sitting around on the beach today, a hairy French man was walking around taking pictures in a jacket. And it really looked like he was only wearing a jacket... Every time he walked by I wanted to take a picture, but I didn't want to be rude! Eventually he raised his arms to take a picture of something (there are lots of somethings to take snapshots of in France), and there it was! His small black speedo. Ew. But at least we knew he was wearing something! It's still going to take a while to get used to this whole speedo fad here...

For those who don't know, one of my jobs here is to cook every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and sometimes other days. Tonight was super easy, canned peas and carrots, sausage hot dogs called Knacki's, and of course, bread. I have never cooked canned peas or carrots before so I was a little nervous. Silly how such an easy meal could cause me to worry! We didn't know if we were supposed to boil them or kind of do a stir fry with them. So we tried to read the label, but there were no directions, then we looked online and saw that people mostly just put them in casseroles. I decided to just plop them into a pan with butter and salt. I knew that would be way too plain, boring, and gross for any of us to eat. Suddenly I remembered something my dad did! Whenever we had carrots for Sunday dinner, he added lots of butter and brown sugar. Oh man, those carrots are tasty! So I found the sugar and put a generous amount in the pan. When I tasted the peas and carrots, they were much better, but still too plain for me. It needed some seasoning. So I went searching through the cupboards, hoping I would find either rosemary or thyme. Luckily, I found both, and after mixing them in, the peas and carrots actually tasted good! I was so proud to see everyone go back for seconds and thirds until all the peas and carrots were gone!

Mon Jour À La Plage

2011-08-22T22:59:00.000+02:00

Title translation, my day at the beach. Today was the kids' first sailing lesson. We woke up, had our breakfast, packed the lunches, and headed out for the beach! Sadly, it wasn't how I pictured our task. I pictured the sun shining bright, warm sand, and a nice salty breeze coming from the sea. Instead we had overcast, sometimes sprinkling, cold, damp sand, and a freezing breeze that seemed to come from all directions. Brooke and I sat on the beach out in the open for a while... But then decided to move to an area that blocked more wind.

A little before the lesson ended, Brooke and I went to the boulangerie (bakery) to buy a baguette for our lunch. We decided to go together, but only one of us would go in to buy it. I decided I was ready to make my first purchase in France. After waiting in line for a moment, I told the lady behind the counter, "Je voudrais acheter une baguette traditionelle s'il vous plait." Meaning, I would like to buy a traditional baguette please. Oh man, I know I sounded totally silly, but we got our baguette! And even better, she understood me! I was very happy that I remembered something from taking French at school. We walked back to the beach feeling very proud.

The kids have never-ending energy. In the morning they sailed. Then they played on the beach. After lunch, we played tag (I'm still finding sand in my hair, ears, etc). They took four 15 minute walks. They jumped on the tramp outside. They played ping pong in the basement, games upstairs, and at dinner, they were still bouncing off the walls! We got them in bed at 8, but then the thunder and lightning came in... We ran outside to get their wetsuits so they could dry inside, instead of getting soaked in the rain. After singing and then putting all the kids in the same room, we finally got them settled. So much for getting to bed early... I sure hope they crash tomorrow night.

While walking around town today, I took a few snapshots! Some are just flowers that I liked, or roads/buildings I thought were pretty. If you want to see more photos, click on this link ---> Facebook and it will go to my photo album, A Year in France.

P.S. The last photo is a picture of my house!

Drawing, Sickness, Tickling, and Quizzes

2011-08-21T23:20:00.000+02:00

Yesterday my shower was cut short because the basement was flooding. So I got to shave my knees and my right thigh, but that was as far as I got. They asked if I wanted to go to the beach with them, but since I didn't get to finish shaving, I decided it would be better if I finished packing instead. After they got back, Marion and I drew pictures together in her room. It took awhile to get her to understand what I was asking her, but when we finally got to drawing, it was fun! I drew Marion a dog. She loved it so much, she gave me a big hug! Then I drew Sarah a tiger which she liked too, but she was too busy with her Nintendo DS game to give me a hug, I guess. Dessert last night was by far my favorite yet! We had bowls filled with some type of apricot sauce/syrup and in the middle of the delicious liquid in my bowl was a big scoop of the creamiest, most divine vanilla ice cream I have ever tasted!Later that night Marion wanted me to say goodnight to her. I gave her a hug and kisses, but she wouldn't let go! I didn't know how to say get off so I just kept repeating, "Bonne nuit," over and over again. (P.S. bonne nuit = goodnight).

Okay, I am sorry, but I only have two pictures so far from Saint-Malo. But I have a legitimate reason! This morning, I woke up feeling TERRIBLE! I felt annoyed because I was going to wake up early to go on a walk with the girls, but instead I just wanted to throw up. I sat in my bed for about an hour, and big surprise, I threw up. Thinking about it later, I realized that I had a dream last night about running so much I got sick. Well, I found it weird... I felt so bad that I was sick! Everyone came over and explored St-Malo while I sat in my room by myself. Karine decided that it was probably from the stress of going through such a big change and told me that the au pair before got sick within the first few days too. Around 1:30 pm, I felt much better! I finally cleaned up and went downstairs to spend time with the family. I was very sad I was sick that day. Lunch looked so good! But Karine and I thought it best if I just take things slow and start with rice. Luckily, I was still feeling good so I got to eat dessert with everyone. Brooke's host family made apricot pie and it was absolutely mouthwatering!

After lunch, we went to the beach where the kids will take their sailing lessons. At the beach, I finally got to take pictures, but only two... This picture is when it was low tide. At the lessons, the water will come up all the way to where the sand gets dark. I wish I took more pictures on our walk back to the house. We saw a lot within that small time of 15 minutes! But Karine was walking fast, and I didn't want to slow her down... So we will save the pictures for tomorrow :)

For dinner, it was just Sarah, Marion, Maelle-Marie, Aymeric, Brooke, and I. The kids are definitely more loud when the parents aren't around... And they kept tickling me all day! I hate being tickled! But the thing is, when I tell them to stop, I am always laughing from being tickled. It's hard to take someone serious when they are laughing, and it's hard to look serious when you are laughing. It's frustrating. During dinner, the kids quizzed Brooke and I on our French. I won. But then the kids started saying things like touch the fork, cup, white shirt, basically things that we were already touching. The kids wanted their own au pair to win. We will see who crosses the fluency line first...

Je Suis Arrivé En France

2011-08-20T18:13:00.000+02:00

For everyone wondering, the title translates to I have arrived in France. I got here three days ago and so far, I love it! I guess you could say I am a temporary addition to Bertrand and Karine's family. The girls I am taking care of are so cute! Sarah is 10 and Marion is 8. Neither of them speak English, so communicating with them is both frustrating and comical. Usually we can figure out the basis of the conversation using charades and words from my very small French vocabulary. Even though we don't understand each other, we still chat away about random things. The phrases, "Tu ne comprends pas" (meaning you don't understand) and, "Je ne comprends pas" (I don't understand) are spoken often. Eventually, the girls and I will understand each other better, but for now, I am getting really good at charades.

My first day here, the girls and I watched High School Musical 2 in French. I was exhausted and couldn't understand what they were saying anyway, so I dozed off a little. Sarah and Marion LOVE High School Musical. Since the songs are in English, they don't understand the meaning. And when they try to sing along, it sounds more like humming and mumbling. But watching them follow along with the dance moves and trying to sing along is cute. It's a good thing I have all the soundtracks on my laptop. Sure we can't really make any conversations, but we can listen and dance to music together. Marion loves Katy Perry and Sarah likes Justin Bieber. Since Karine wants me to teach them English, I told the girls I will translate the American songs they like.

Sarah and Marion also showed me around our area on my first day. It took awhile to understand what they wanted to do, but thanks to my laptop's translator, I figured out they wanted to go on a walk! So we ambled down to the beach which is literally a 3 minute walk away (Oh and thanks to the ocean being so close, there is always a nice breeze flowing). Then we walked down a road that was filled with tall grass and wildflowers that eventually led back to our home. I really like the girls. I feel more comfortable using my French with them rather than the parents. Maybe because I know they will just laugh if I mess up and try and tell me how to fix it. Ha, I am nervous to mess up with the parents even though I shouldn't be. It will take a little to get fully comfortable here.

The house is beautiful! And for those who don't know, toilets and showers are not in the same rooms. There is one big room with a small shower in the the corner, a tub right next to the shower, and sinks on the other side of the room. Toilets have their own little rooms that they share with a small sink. My room is very small. I think it used to be an office because there is a desk in here that takes up the majority of my room. I do have my own sink. I thought the small door was going to be a closet, but it lead to a very very small room that had a low ceiling and a sink. My bed is small, but very comfortable. My first night here, I didn't realize I was supposed to pull shutters over my window. At night, all the windows in the house have shutters that you crank down, or if you are downstairs, all you have to do is push a button and all the shutters roll down by themselves. I'm still not sure why they cover all the windows at night, but because of the window covers, I slept in too long on my second day.

The food here is pretty tasty, and we have dessert after every meal! Don't worry, dessert here isn't the typical kind of dessert in America. In France, dessert usually consists of fruit, compote (fruit purée), pudding, or yogurt. Speaking of yogurt, it does NOT taste the same as in America. I'm sure you could find yogurts similar to the USA versions, but the one I have tried here is super thick and strong. It is different that is for sure, but I can't decide if I like the yogurt here or not. My favorite dessert I have had so far is a tie between apple compote and a peach. Karine gets all the fruit and vegetables at a farmer's market, so they are very fresh and very tasty! I haven't tried the milk yet, but I am nervous to do so. They don't refrigerate the milk until after it is opened. And I don't know if they have fat free milk here, which is the only type I drink. Oh and just a warning for all those who are planning on coming to France sometime in their lives, vinaigrettes here are very thick and very strong! So beware!

Breakfast is wonderful! Basically, I wake up in the morning and eat dessert. Croissants are delicious, jams are delectable, and like I said before, fruit is amazing! Today for lunch, we had fish. I don't know what kind, but it did not taste like fish at all. It certainly looked like fish though! Bertrand grilled the fish whole, including scales and two still had their heads on. I have tried plenty of cheeses already, but I am still nervous to try Roquefort. I have no idea how it doesn't make them sick, because it looks very moldy. My favorites are the Brie and the goat cheese. Oh! I forgot to mention the baguettes! Karine buys fresh baguettes from one of the best boulangeries in Saint-Malo. Someday, I think I will buy a whole baguette just for myself...

France is beautiful. It is so green and full of history! Hopefully I will be able to walk around and take pictures of the buildings here soon. I love it and I haven't even seen the popular monuments and structures yet! Greeting people is still funny to me. All I say is, "Bonjour!" trying to look happy and friendly, but if they say anything back, I have no idea what they said. And the kissing on the cheeks thing is not what I thought it would be like. French people cheek kiss very slowly. I find it a little amusing. Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention that I start working on Monday. Brooke will come and be here in Saint-Malo for the week with two of the kids she is looking after, Maelle-Marie and Aymeric. Sarah, Marion, Maelle-Marie, and Aymeric will all be taking sailing lessons, so Brooke and I get to sit on the beach and relax while the kids are sailing. Doesn't sound too bad for my first week!

I feel like it hasn't really clicked in my mind that I am now living in France. I feel lost when we go out because all I hear is French and I have no idea what any of it means. I really hope I catch on soon, and I would appreciate any prayers for me to understand French. I already miss some things from the US of A. For example, I have to put special oil in my shampoo/conditioner/spray bottle of water to help prevent getting head lice. EW! I guess lice is common here? And I miss big, spacious showers.

P.S. I promise I will get pictures from France up soon!

Thank You

2011-08-20T00:29:00.000+02:00

This post is dedicated to my family. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for letting me live with you. Etcetera. I love you all and I will miss you while I am in France! Thank you for making it possible for me to make it to France. My family is amazing, and without everyone in it, my life would be so dreary and dull. So, I LOVE YOU! And again, thank you so much! You all mean so much to me!

If You're Going To San Francisco...

2011-08-20T00:17:00.000+02:00

Be sure you haven't left your belongings in any strange or unusual places. For instance, don't leave your wallet and phone on top of a car like I did. And don't leave your purse at some random store in China Town that looks like every other store in that area like my cousin Ange did. More on those incidents later...

In order to be able to stay in France for so long, I needed to get a visa. For some reason, I had to go to the French Consulate in San Francisco to get a special au pair visa. It took a while to figure out how I was going to get there and where I was going to stay, but right before I left, everything fell into place.

Marie, Ange, and I all went on the San Fran road trip together, and the whole excursion was crazy. Like I mentioned before, we didn't know how everything was going to work out, but we ended up renting a car to drive and staying at Ange's cousin's house. The drive was supposed to take about 12 hours, but poor Marie ended up driving about 15 hours because I left my wallet and phone on top of the car at a gas station in Dixon, and forgot about it. After we turned at an intersection, Marie, Ange, and I all heard a thud on the car, but of course we didn't stop. An hour after the Dixon stop, I realized I didn't have my cell phone, and during my search, I noticed my wallet was missing too. So then we drove an hour back to Dixon, had to pay a toll, and we didn't even know if would be able to find my wallet! It was the longest hour of my life. I needed that wallet in order to get my visa! While Ange and I were running around the intersection, looking for my wallet, a cop pulled over to talk to me. I was nervous that I was somehow in trouble for running around like a crazy person, and somewhat hopeful that he would stop traffic to help in the search for my things. After explaining my situation to the officer, all he said was, "Good luck. There are drunk drivers out tonight." Then he drove off. You can imagine how comforting that was to hear... About two minutes later, Ange found my wallet! It was in the middle of the road, open, and face down.

Yeah it got ran over a few times, but it was completely camouflaged in the road! It is a miracle that everything was still in the wallet and not completely destroyed. As you can see, my wallet and cards are dented and scratched, and the wallet can't even close anymore... Unfortunately, I could not find my phone, and I lost all my numbers with it. But let's be honest here, my wallet was the only thing I really needed to find.

The next day, I had my visa appointment. Of course I had a copy of every document, except for the one thing I actually needed a copy of. My passport. Seriously, if Marie did not have her iPhone, the whole trip would have been a complete fiasco! The appointment just made me feel like an oblivious American. I was one of those people that make Americans look stupid and slow. I didn't know what to call each document, because some of them were only in French. I had to ask him several different times if I had the right paper. And since I was so nervous, I had trouble listening to what he was telling me. I think I replied, "What?" after everything he said. It didn't help me feel better when he would stop to say something in French to the guy next to him and they would start laughing. I am almost positive that they were making fun of me. Which is understandable. I got over it though. Besides, I liked being able to bask in the attractiveness of the two French men. And I wish I took pictures of the area around the French Consulate building. I loved the squeezed together buildings that towered over the tight streets.

After the appointment, Marie, Ange, Carrie, and I went to Pier 39. We explored the little shops, stopped for some grub, and saw some seals! Oh, and Alcatraz was there too. We passed a lot of street performers on our way to Ghirardelli Square. There were some interesting people in the side shows. Rainbow man, silver/gold men, creepy skeleton guy, armless guitar player, attractive acrobats, and my favorite, the homeless-looking guy that held a sign that said, "Need $ 4 Weed." It made me laugh, but hey, at least he is honest... Don't worry! We did drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was super foggy so the whole bridge was never in sight. This gave it an effect similar to scary/action movies when the fog comes in just before the people driving on the bridge get attacked by a monster that sneaks in, invisible, thanks to the fog.

Later that night, Marie, Ange, and I went to China Town. Every store looked the same to me, they all offered pretty much the same things, and the vendors all looked similar. So when Ange realized that she was missing her diaper bag, at first, I wondered how we would ever find her bag. I remembered looking at the bag sitting on a pile of Chinese things, thinking I should tell Ange not to forget to pick it up again. But of course, I got distracted and forgot. Don't worry, we ran back through China Town and found it. The ladies in the store saw it and decided to put it behind the counter for safe keeping until the owner returned.

Well, that pretty much sums up the San Francisco trip. And after losing two different, very important things, we started joking around that Marie was the next one to lose a possession, but luckily, that never happened. If you want to see more pictures from San Francisco, click on this link --> Facebook and it will lead you to my Summer 2011 album on my Facebook account.

The Background Story

2011-08-02T05:42:00.000+02:00

Here it is! My blog, finally updated. The reason? Because I have had so many people suggest that I write a blog while I live in France. Just a forewarning, I am definitely not a gifted writer. So I apologize for any grammatical errors or boring writing styles you might read... But hopefully, blogging will help mold me into a better writer.

Anyway, this first post is to tell how I got the France gig. My sister Marie, whom I love so dearly, volunteered at a hospital with a girl named Brooke. Brooke was saying how she is going to France to be an au pair, AKA a nanny, for a French family that lives there. Marie wanted to know when she would be back because she knew I would be interested in living in France. Turns out that the relatives of the family that Brooke will be helping out, was looking for an au pair! Marie called me up, told me what was going on, and then I got in contact with my future French family.

After gathering paperwork and retrieving documents from various places, I am finally ready to go to France. I leave August 17th and that date is fast approaching! I'll be living in Saint-Malo which is located in the Brittany region of northwest France.

So there it is folks. The background story to my new life, a new adventure, and a new beginning.