2eme semaine de vacances!

the 2nd week of vacation went by wayyy to fast. Mariana stayed with me the whole week which was really fun :) i miss you already haha. Well, i am just going to give a quick run-down of the week because i dont feel like typing very much. One day Sophine took Pascaline, Mariana and I to the Centre d'Agriculture in Paris which was really funny haha. It was a huuuuuuge building filled with livestock--cows, pigs, goats, chickens, donkeys--- it was like the fair! Another day I went to paris with Mariana, Jack, and Jose. We visited the Centre Pompidou which was a good choice because it was raining a lot. Another day I helped Mariana cook a mexican dinner for my family. It turned out really good. We had guacamole, enchiladas, beans and flan. It was so nice to eat mexican food again. i miss it a lot haha even though in Twin its not considered authentic. Yesterday, we went to Paris to watch Black Swan which was a realllllllly weird movie. I am surprised that it is nominated for awards... to each his own i guess. and last night mariana, sophie, nicholas, i and the Lasserres had a dinner with a couple from Rotary where we ate a saurkraut dish. We didnt get home until 2 in the morning..... oh la. Anyway, there is my week! I am sad that my vacation is over... school tomorrow.... joy!
hahah
well xoxo
em

La Marmotte dans les Alpes♥

Coucou! I just got home from a week-long ski vacation in the Alps (crazy right?!) It was so much fun. We stayed in the cabin of Isabelle's grandparents, called "La marmotte" or in English "The Groundhog" :) The weather was FANTASTIC, which meant there wasn't snow around the cabin, but it was perfect because there was enough snow on the mountains to ski and snowboard. It was so sunny and beautiful that we were never cold skiing! it was great.

I invited my french friend Valentine to come with us which was super fun :) I love her. She's hilarious. Plus it was like having a french teacher with me at all times.

We went skiing at "Le Grand Bornand." Another plus to having not a ton of snow was that there weren't that many people on the mountain! My host families said that normally there are sooo many people that the lines for the chair lift took forever, but for us there was practically no wait.

Aurelien, Valentine, and I went skiing 5 of the days. It was nice. After skiing we would take a little nap and then play some games with the rest of the fam. One evening we went sledding, another we went and watched hockey and another we went to Annecy(the town I am going to live it when I'm older.) :)

The last night we all went out to a delicious restaurant where I had a tartiflette. soooooo good. It was a great end to a great vacation.

I am so grateful for my two great host families :) and now I can cross "Go skiing in the Alps" off my list of things to do before I die!

I am now in my 2nd host family, the Gabelotauds, and my mexican sister Mariana is coming to stay with us for a week while her host family is gone. Im excited because shes going to make us a delicious mexican meal!!!!!

xoxoxox

em

bac blanc!

j'ai passé le bac blanc en maths et anglais aujourd'hui! Je suis fière de moi parce que je pense que j'ai réussi! (baaa bien sur en anglais parce que c'était TROP facile- meme pas les chose de traduire donc ca n'était que en anglais. haha) et pour les maths je pense que ca va aussi. Je n'ai pas bien compris TOUT mais pour la plupart c'était pas trop dur. On verra. Hier j'avais pas envie de le faire mais maintenant je suis contente parce que je peux dire que j'ai passé le bac blanc! (meme si c'etait que 2 eprouves. c'est pas grave ;) Cette semaine j'ai passé mes temps à preparer mes valises et charger tout mes affaires. oh la. j'ai BEAUCOUP de choses.... la pire sera à la fin de mon échange parce que il sera meme plusssss.

Hier l'éscalade était annulé donc je suis allée à Paris avec Jack et Mia et Maria (comme habitude haha). on n'a pas fait beaucoup de choses... on a mangé et on faisait les cours un petit peu. Mais c'est tout!
Donc.... zut- pourquoi j'ai ecrit tout ca en francais parce que mais il faut traduire en anglais. hahaha je ne sais pas pourquoi j'ai choisi le francais, peut-etre parce que j'en ai marre avec anglais après le bac.
okay c'est parti---

I took the Bac Blanc (the practice exams for the huge exam at the end of the year) in Math and English today! I am proud of myself because I think i did well! (well, of course i did in English because it was super easy- didn't even have a section to translate so it was really ALL in english) and for the math I think i did pretty well. I didn't understand ALL the questions, but for the most part it was too hard. We'll see (not that it matters...) Yesterday, I did not feel like doing it, but now I am happy that I did because I can say that I took the bac in France! (Even if it is just for 2 subjects... I dont have to advertise that part of it) This week I have spent my time packing my suitcases and getting everything ready. I have a lot of stuff! how did i get so much in just 5 months... The worst will be that the end because there will be even more...
Yesterday, rockclimbing was canceled so i went to Paris with Jack Mia and Maria (like usual haha) We didn't actually do much. We ate a little and shopped a little but that all!
Then I go on to ask why i just wrote all that in French because I will have to write it in English after... haha
bissssouss!
em

montmatre + chez jack

this weekend was a lot of fun :) Saturday i met up with maria, mia, mariana(i have too many friends that start with m's...) and jack in Paris for the afternoon. We just hung out in Montmartre watching street performers around le Sacre-coeur. it was so much fun. I absolutely love this quartier. And Sacre Coeur is just breathtaking as you can see from the photo!
That night we all stayed at Jack's house which was really fun. I just love them all so much. After my exchange i'm going to need lots of money to travel around the world visiting all my friends from this year!!!!!

Anyway, today i was actually pretty productive even though i didn't have school. Well, i slept in which was so nice but then i went on a really long run! i was so proud of myself. I ran around the entire lack behind my house. It was probably only like 4 1/2 miles but still i felt accomplished :) Plus i was absolutely GORGEOUS today. mid 50s and sunny. it was lovely. I felt so good after my run. Also, i started the packing process since i am going to be switching families soon. Didn't get too far, but sorted through most of my things deciding what to keep and what to throw. I have no idea how i accumulated so much stuff in 5 months... it ridiculious. Packing is NOT fun.

Also, i decided to try out my dessert cookbook i got for xmas and so i made creme caramel. It has to stay in the fridge for 24 hours so we will see how it turned out tomorrow.... Well, there you have it :)

bizzz

em

oh the good life.

We finally got our class picture! haha we are quite the class :) Its kind of hard to see, but im the top left. (my head looks pointy because im wearing a black hat). Anyway, it will be a fun souvenir to have i think. Nothing too exciting happened today except that its the start of my 3 week vacation!!!! well, besides next thursday when i am going to take the bac blanc in math and english. Life is good. This week will be spent packing for both the week at the alps and for changing families. I can't believe its already time for that! Packing up all my stuff is not going to be fun hahaha. But im really really looking forward to the ski trip to the alps with both my families and with my friend Valentine :). I'm praying for snow! USA send some of your snow over to France!!!!!! well just for the week we are in the mountains.
Well, i kind of have a headache and so im going to go to bed!
bisous
em

fevrier!

wow, time flies. I can't believe its already february. sorry, its been awhile but i just haven't been in the blogging mood. so anyway, i've been doing well. This last weekend I had a Rotary conference all Saturday which was pretty boring and then they night we had a exotic food gala where all the students had to prepare a dish to serve. I was really looking forward to this because I thought I was going to eat tons of different dishes, but actually they didnt even give the students plates.... it was mostly for the guests so in order to eat we had to steal spoons and just go around trying to get what we could.... it was kind of a bummer. But there were lots of students there so it was fun to be with all of them. Also, in our district we got a new columbia and 2 new australiens who are just so nice:) its weird that I am not the new ones anymore! it feels like i just got here.

Anyway, the gala was in Amiens (northern France) and got over really late so we stayed the night in dorm rooms. And of course since it was with Rotary we had to wake up really early the next morning (which turned out to be for nothing).... We had 3 or so hours before we actually did anything so we were all a little grouchy haha. that day we split up and some went iceskating while some of us went and visited the cathedral which was absolutely beautiful. Its the biggest cathedral in France.

Overall it was an alright weekend. Not my favorite, but not terrible... We all felt kind of sick sunday after eating very well and not sleeping very well, but we survived haha. I took a 2 hour nap after school monday to recover from the weekend. Also, my 3 week vacation starts this friday so i am sooo excited! i have 3 weeks instead of 2 because next week is my school's bac blanc which is like a practice for the real bac, but still counts for a big part of their grade. Everyone is starting to stress for it. But i don't have to take it (except for in Math and English) so i dont have school except for thursday. it will be a nice little break!

also, today i got a nice surprise package from my grandparents (thanks gramma net and grandpa lonnie!) it was so exciting to get! i just made my day. I had to go get it from the post office and the whole bus ride home i was smiling and was super impatient to get home and open it!!! I just love the little joys in life like mail.

For dinner tonight the Lasserre's took me to a creperie! it was actually my first one since usually i just buy them from the street venders in paris. It was delicious :D first i had one with ham and goat cheese which was so good and then after i had a really yummy rasberry and ice cream one. it was amazing. but im stuffed now. oh well, it was worth it. Well, i'm off to bed after a fantastic day :D

xoxox

em