1/30/2016

Six months in. I really need to be better at running this blog. But I also don’t ever feel motivated to write about what I’m doing here.

January was a really long month. Really long.

I turned 20, spent three hours in the louvre, went to church, and got the stomach flu.

So yeah, my birthday was my first weekend back from Christmas vacation! I went to Rouen with my friends. We were going to go to this pizza restaurant I’ve been dying to try, but since we didn’t have a reservation, we didn’t get to eat there. We ended up getting bagels at the “Friends” café that I kinda hate, but mostly because I hate “Friends”. Then, we went shopping in Rouen and met up with Sarah. Sarah and I picked out a cologne for her boyfriend for his birthday (we’re twins), and I bought myself 4 sets of eyeshadow and blush that were super cheap because they were on sale. My sister is jealous.

Then, we sat and got coffee at the same place we went the first time I met them. It was fine. Nothing super special. Then, I went home with Sarah and went to her boyfriend’s birthday party/sleepover. I hate sleepovers. They scare me. I don’t know why, but from the time I was a small child, I have hated sleeping over at other people’s houses. Everything was going like really well and then I just started crying. Out of nowhere. I was telling myself to just power through the party. Like, I could go home (to Sarah’s) Sunday morning and have my own little birthday party with them that afternoon, but I just felt really sad. So I went upstairs and tried to call my family members since it was my birthday and I hadn’t been able to talk to them, but I got nothing. So I went downstairs and tried to enjoy the party, but I really couldn’t. I just felt sad and empty and sick to my stomach. So after about maybe another hour, I called Val (Sarah’s mom) and she came and picked me up.

Sunday was fine, but I felt really bad for leaving the party early. Sarah came home and said all of this stuff about what Maxime’s family had done and it just made me feel really guilty. I enjoyed my birthday meal at my French family’s house, then went back to Vernon so I could start working Monday morning.

We didn’t celebrate my birthday until Thursday night in Vernon, mostly because things kept coming up every time we were going to celebrate. But it was okay because I was able to be less homesick in those four days and so I didn’t cry during the birthday song. That was fine. I then spent the weekend in my room doing nothing because what else do you do the first weekend that you’re 20 years old?

The next week, my host mom’s dad came to stay with us on Thursday. I really like my host mom’s dad. He’s just this really sweet old guy who always has cool things to say. I learned that he loves gardening and he told me stories about all of the robins who came and sat by him while he was gardening.

Then, on Saturday, I decided to spend the day in Paris because why the hell not? I live in France and I’m 40 minutes away from Paris. I have to go at least once a month. I went to Le Camion Qui Fume, which started as France’s first food truck and is now a restaurant in the IIème. I had the most glorious burger of my life there. Seriously, their burgers are so good. Then I walked around a little bit, then went to the Louvre. I was pretty set on going to the Cluny, but I decided that the Louvre would be fun.

I should have learned from my trip there in February of 2006.

The first time we were there, I told my papa and my sister that I would lead them to the Mona Lisa. I got us very lost.

Guess who got lost 10 years later?

Yep.

But I saw a really cool exhibit on Islamic art as well as a Star Wars exhibit. And then I rolled my eyes at Napoleon III. WHO THE HELL HAS THAT MUCH MONEY? LIKE WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUB IT IN MY POOR FACE?

Then, I walked from the Louvre to Shakespeare and Company where I bought myself A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. I can’t write about France the way Hemingway does. I wish I could. I then got myself a chai from the Shakespeare and Company Café, which seriously has the best chai tea I’ve ever had in my life. Then, I sat outside of Notre Dame and just stared at it for an hour and took pictures of people and just let myself be a tourist for a little bit. Then, I went to the train station so that I could go back to Vernon.

On Sunday morning, a family friend came and picked me up and took me to church in Rouen. It was fun to meet a lot of the people who had known my papa when he was a missionary there. Today, I’m having hot chocolate with the sister missionaries to just chat for a little bit. I’m excited.

This week, I went to Rouen on Thursday, which was great because France is way more alive on Thursday mornings than Monday mornings.

Then yesterday, I managed to get the stomach flu that all of the other kids in town have. Little M is still sick since she’s so small. I wish I could give her my immune system. I spent all of yesterday in bed sleeping and watching Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t know why I thought watching people “perform surgery” would make me feel better. It’s gross.

But that’s about it for now! Maybe I’ll have more to talk about next week! I’ll try to do something weekly from now on.