6 months!

6 months. that's half a year. and a little less than 2/3 of the time i will be spending abroad. each day i ask myself how time can pass so fast. sometimes i wonder if i should be pinching myself to prove that this is really real. this is my life. i am living my dream, and sometimes i have trouble believing it.
i feel like i have grown up a lot since being here. changed a lot, and yet remained the same. i am more open minded and down to try new things, in part because that is what this whole experience is about.
i look back and am amazed at how much i have accomplished in the past six months that have sped by while i wish time would slow down just a little bit. i have seen five different countries, and have tickets for a sixth (which happens to also be on a different continent). but more tickets need to be purchased, more cities need to be seen. particularly in france, though i do have tickets to two more french cities purchased already as well at least.
i have learned to call a foreign city home, and try every day to not think about how soon i will be leaving.. though often i fail.
i've eaten foods i never thought i would, and plan to eat more i didn't think i possibly could. escargot to be an example of one i've already eaten. grenouille (aka frogs) as one i know i still need to try.
my french has improved remarkably since being here, though i still want it to be better.
i have made incredible friends, created amazing memories, seen inspiring places, and been truly grateful and thankful for everyone who has made this trip everything it has been.
(for those of you that i have promised to send postcards to, don't worry, i haven't forgotten! buying them has just slipped my mind a little bit in the last couple cities... my bad.)
i am so glad i chose a host family, because i get to experience french life more fully. and i'm glad they were willing to keep me for the year. i really start to feel like i'm part of the family. just today my host mom and i were whispering about there not being any mail today (she has asked me to hide it from my host dad for a few days since i usually retrieve it in the morning and she has a surprise for him), when my host dad walked in. he said something about two friends whispering about stuff like girls do, and my host mom corrected him saying that no we weren't copines, she is my maman-d'accueil. i thought it was so cute :) i remember earlier in the year when i referred to her as my host mom and she had thought it was so kind, a term of endearment i guess. to be honest it had never really occurred to me at first that the term would be anything special, but after learning the relationships others have with their host parents, i was glad she felt so complemented. so i thought it was great when she pointed it out again.

but what have i been up to lately? i have been keeping myself busy, that is for sure. i have been going out on friday and saturday nights, hanging out with americans, french people, and even other foreigners - trying to get the most out of what this city and its residents have to offer. i have been going to classes and doing homework (yes, i actually have homework this semester). participating in p.e. classes and wishing i were more coordinated, but having fun nonetheless.

as far as classes go, it occurred to me i might actually want to be able to look back and see what an assignment looked like when i was here, so i figured (for those of you who speak french), i would give you a little taste. in my creative writing class we were told to write a poem, so this is what danielle, chloe, and i came up with. the guidelines were that it must be 4 stanzas with an ABBA ABBA AAB AAB rhyme scheme, and that each line have 12 syllables. we learned you can play with the syllable part because you can turn one syllable words into two syllable words by pronouncing the e at the end if you need to. i warn you, it is not very good and goes downhill around the end of the third stanza. oh and putting it in a translator makes it sound worse.. but anyways, here it is:


Regarder la pluie, elle tombe du ciel tout gris.
Un vieux couple mignon nourrit les petits oiseaux
Observe les enfants jouant dans les flaques-d’eau
Ignorant leurs parents sous de grands parapluies

Les gros nuages s’écartent, apparaît le soleil
Un arc-en-ciel éclaire doucement le beau paysage
Les enfants maintenant veulent aller à la plage
Le sable, la mer, sont une beauté, une merveille

Une par une les gouttes commencent a mouiller le sol
Un coup de tonnere, les oiseaux s’effrayent, s’envolent
Un éclair frappe le sable, un verre se manifeste

Les parents trouvent le godet ; ils boivent un peu de vin,
Ils invitent les enfants à manger du lapin
Le jour se termine. On ne connaît pas le reste…