1-9-12
This is the second day I have been living with my host family and I am getting along with them great! They have eight kids, of which four live here. Yesterday, as is normal, was a little odd at first, but we have quickly become familiar with each other. One of their daughters lives in town and joined us for dinner last night. She is a nurse who fills in for people who cannot work on certain days. At first, I was not looking forward to the meals because I thought that there would be non-stop questions which my French would not be able to answer, but as it turns out, my host family treats me like another member of the family and pays equal attention to each member. I like this because it is hard to express myself all the time and to accurately portray life in the United States to someone who may not have been there.
This morning I was lucky enough to accompany my host dad and his son to the store to pick up groceries and supplies to build a wall. I couldn’t believe it but the French have a store similar to Wal-Mart. This place had everything. My only thought the entire time we were there was, one could live in here forever. And, to top it off, the store was inside a mall-like building. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing.
When we got back I helped Luc, my host dad, put the wall supplies away while Catherine, my host mother, prepared lunch. I am absolutely certain that I am going to love the meals here. It is true what we Americans say about French food. It is mouth-watering and healthy as well. The French eat just as much as we do for meals, but they finish everything on their plates because they only help themselves to as much food as they can finish. There are also a lot of fruits and vegetables in their diet, which is, I am sure, why they aren’t obese and we are.
I think this afternoon that I will be shown the route to the university via walking and the bus. I am pretty nervous that I may be late for classes or something like that if the buses run late or if it begins to rain while I am walking to classes. Apparently the route, on foot, only takes twenty minutes, which is great, but I am sure there will be days when walking may not be an option. It’s a good thing that I will be walking a lot because it seems like it would be hard to do any running here. The streets are a death sentence for pedestrians due to the fact that they are so narrow and most of the drivers drive like their lives depend on how quickly they get places. I think some American drivers could take a lesson or two though on how to aggressively and successfully navigate a street in a car.
Tonight, I believe the priest from the church is coming to dinner because it is his birthday. It should be an interesting experience and I look forward to meeting him and learning more about the Catholic religion. Luc and Catherine went to Mass this morning, which seems so odd to me, but what do I know? I am only a Methodist and we are not known for being very religiously dedicated. I must go now because I don’t like sitting in my room on a computer, but more posts to come.