oh là là

Now that I am feeling better (still tired...but only because now i don't want to sleep at all because there are so many things i want to explore) I am having an EXCELLENT time in Tours.

One thing that has surprised me is my ability to speak French. Of course I knew that I could speak French well, but it wasn't until now that I do my everyday everything in French and socialize with French people that I have realized that I've grasped the language. I don't have any problem speaking with people; what I am working on now is becoming more comfortable speaking it faster and more fluidly, instead of pausing often to think for a second on what i want to say. And as it has been only my 3rd day here, I'm really happy with the level that I'm starting out at. By the end of today, and at dinner too, I was getting really tired so I was having some problems. But I know it's just because I'm tired. I'm barely coherent in English as well. But at any rate...it's really exciting to finally be fluent in French!

Yesterday was quite the interesting day. I woke up around eleven and had a little bit of breakfast. Breakfast every morning consists of du pain avec nutela, fromage, le beurre, ou d'autres choses qu'on veut (bread with nutela, cheese, butter, or anything else that you might want), coffee or tea, and yogurt. It's a REALLY light breakfast. All of the meals are so much lighter here, but at the same time I walk away full and satisfied. Oh, and Huguette also serves the maple syrup that I gave her with breakfast because you can mix it with the yogurt and it tastes very yummy. It's not like Dannon yogurt, it's just plain natural chunky yogurt, but I like it, I like the tart taste.

Then I cleaned up a bit. I really like the older kind of French bathrooms. Bathrooms are getting more and more modern here, but thankfully I have an older one. It's what looks like half the size of a bathtub that we would be accustomed to, and the shower head is just a long cord, it doesn't stand up right or anything. But I really like it, because you just sit down in the shower, plug the drain after the water is warm enough, and get your body wet, then turn of the water and soap yourself and hair, then you turn the water back on and rinse off. I think it's really relaxing to be able to sit in the shower in the morning. Hahhaa, I guess I'm just lazy.

Here are pictures of the bathroom. As Huguette is a mosaic artist, she has all they amazing mosaic murals decorating the house in different parts. The ones in the bathroom are a bit bizarre..the antique looking porcelain victorian heads on the bodies creep me out, but over all, it's just an interesting piece of art. She also has a border in the bathroom with just a strip of Film Noir photos. Film Noir is just the genre name for old 1940s black and white movies.























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Then I decided to tag along with Melanie and walk around the city a bit. She was going to meet a couple of other girls (also american, also don't speak a lick of french.) We went to a cafe and had lunch. Afterwards, I ran into some girls from my group and decided to go with them. Big mistake. They were sooo embarrassing to be with. I realize that we are tourists no matter what and that it is a lot of their first times in France, let alone Europe, and that I'm no veteran myself in visiting France, but for the love of God. We passed by some random old wall that had roses growing on it, and yes we stopped to take pictures....but for 25 minutes. At least a 100 different poses. I just sat on the side line and cringed while I could hear all the French people sitting around near us crack up at the crazy Americans. One group was a a highschool-age group of three guys, smoking cigs, of course. And i heard them talking about us, saying, "Et voilà. Enfet, les americains n'ont jamais vu un mur." ("and there you have it. americans have never seen a wall.") Then they tried to secretly take pictures of us on their camera phones!!! I couldn't believe it. I now rest on some random French cellphone as an American that has never seen a wall. Ughh. It was embarrassing. No wonder everyone thinks Americans are crazy, they run around smiling like madmen with big cameras around their neck taking pictures of walls.

I know I am being cynical, but it really was embarrassing. I much prefer French encounters where they smile and talk to me about interesting things.

Thenn...we walked around some more. Wandered back home for dinner. When I came home, I met my other two roommates, Gabby and Robin. They are boyfriend and girlfriend...and very possibly the most adorable couple I have ever and will ever meet before in my life. I can't stand it. They are so damn cute. Gabby is this adorable guatamalen chica with an even more adorable chica accent and wild and crazy dark black curls, and Robin is an American from the east coast, who laughs all the time and gets really animated when he talks about certain aspects of the French culture that he loves. They are always giggling and in love and hugging and kissing (which isn't a big deal here...people practically have sex on park benchs. they take their pda's to a whole new level.) It makes me miss having a boyfriend around when I see how happy and in love they are :( but oh well. But, really, my roommates are so nice and fun to be with.

I think I need to wrap it up here for tonight. It's almost midnight and I thought I was going to go to bed early but I guess not. Matt had got online and we were talking and I stopped writing and now it's late...but one more quick thing. I ended up buying a cellphone today. It's pay as you go, and incoming calls are free for me though so if any of you call me I don't use any of my minutes, however you will be paying international prices. BUT, my friend Lindsey told me that you can buy a phone card at a Dollar Tree (for a dollar obviously) and it gives you 20 international minutes. Not bad! So, we could always talk on the phone that way. I don't want to post my phone number online in public, but if you want it ask and I will email it.


pps. Eamonn, you had mentioned the old section of Tours. Mais enfet, je habite là! Alors c'est ça que je vois quand je me reveille touts les matins.