In Lauzerete

I know it's been like a day but A LOT OF STUFF WENT DOWN SINCE MY LAST UPDATE. There is a possibility that this is largely because I have not slept much and, as a result, have had more time available in which things can happen during. 

This weekend, Madame Celine (my host mother) took Karina and me to Lauzerete, a country village about an hour away.

Lots of fun.

(Karina and I at a cute, patriotic cafe where we used the restroom so Madame bought us obligatory coffee.)

This weekend was a long weekend because of Bastille Day (as in the storming the bastille). This was my favorite thing, the weekend. Madam's youngest son, Henry, came to visit and the whole fam (Madam, Karina, Henry, Tyrone, and I (ok there is an eldest son and a husband somewhere in the world too)) bonded. I don't know why people go on and on about Disneyland being the happiest place on earth, because the happiest place is definitely here. (Hmmm, wonder if it's difficult for Elizabeth to get comfortable...)

(Sunset over Disneyla...Madame's neighborhood)

I'm in such a good mood, I'm just going to post the rest of the itenerary in billeted format (what ever will you do without my extensive witty commentary):

Pool

Played Cards 

Won cards

Won cards a lot

I am a champion 

Hammock

No chlorine in the pool, just salt

Fireworks

Concert

Friends

Exploring

Eating

Shopping

People

American stranger helped with directions

Chickens in the park

Pony in the park (this country and large animals... 😉)

Testing for placement

Place in intermediate

Questioned my life and choices and existence (legitimately)

Internal breakdown

Ate Nutella

Talked to program leader on the phone

Switched into advanced

Celebrated

TV bonding with fam

Blogging

So the summary here is that everything was lovely. I know I'm leaving so serious gaps here in my storytelling. Sorry.

Anyway, back to last weekend:

So we went to Lazurete to see a friend of Madame's. Her town was having a big sale (a sort of country version of a U.S. neighborhood yardsale). Immediately in the town, we got the cutest coffees (merci, Madame):

The sale had a lot of winners for purchase. Take this skirt. If I were a skirt, I would be this skirt. Interpret that statement however you want.

They also had this stand that said "c'est pas moi c'est lui" (it's not me its you) and I'm including it here to assure you that every language holds the capacity for sass.

People smiled a lot at us here at the sale and it made me so happy. People really do not smile at strangers here and it felt so familiar to have them smile at me. We then had a picnic in the yard of a super cool abandoned house. Awe, France.

Now we're home and hanging out.

Here are the beautiful couches that have cause some very intense (yet pleasantly symmetrical) bruises on my things. (The French conserve energy and do not have lights on at night. When it is dark I can not see. When I can not see, I slam into couches.) The bruises are actually quite bad but Karina has bruises to match, so at least we're all in this together.:

Here is the kitchen where the Nutella lives:

(HAVE I MENTIONED THAT MADAME COOKS FOR ME)

 

Here is our wipe board of learning, where our host brother puts vocab that we really should already know. 

If you look closely, you'll see that Karina need to learn "maybe someday I will be the favorite". This is because Ty keeps saying that I'm his favorite. Or more accurately, that I am his "fahhh-voe-rit". (This is because I am. Obviously. 💁🏼):

Today we taught him the meaning of tan and wink. FYI, I already knew the meanings of all of the words on my list (he needed to put something there) so I then requested the days of the week to learn. No, I did not know them. I also am lacking in a lot of the vocabulary for numbers over 10. Shoutout to the curriculums of French 1A and B for depriving me of chances to learn the basics of the French language. 

Tomorrow I start CIEE class in the highest level in the program. Wish me luck.

(A nice photo of last nights fireworks (that I did not take).)