Day 70-73 - School, Pétanque, Fun Fair and Camille

I barely slept a wink Wednesday-Thursday night. I went to bed just after 11 p.m. but I couldn't fall asleepuntil around 1 a.m., after hours of tossing and turning. I also woke up twice before my alarm rang. It was frustrating to be tired on the first day back. 

We got to school early (8 a.m., school starts 0830) like usual, so there was a lot of waiting. And huggung and bisous. 

I decided to stay for the Spanish lesson that afternoon, too. It was more interesting than when they were correcting tests. That was SOOO boring. 

I can't breathe. I'm running as fast as I can, but I won't make it, I just know it. But I keep running. I look over my shoulder to see Marie is walking and signal at her to keep running. She does.

When I look back the bus has stopped at the red light. We could make it if the light stays red for five more seconds! But it doesn't. We stop, breathless, and walk back to the bus stop. I curse after the bus, Marie looks amused. I hate missing busses.

Thankfully the  next one comes soon after. We needn't wait long for it.

We got to school a little later than normal, 10 past 8. It was strange to have so many people already there brfore us. Usually there are maby three others before us.

The first lesson we had was a skip and we palyed a round of Tarot for a change. I haven't actually played it for a while so it felt good. Nothing interesting happened again until Francais. For one thing we got our tests back. The teacher didn't mark mine (thankfully, as it was analysing a poem!). The best in the class was a 12/20! It was insanely hard and long, the test was.

Around half way through the first lesson I heard a lot of commotion behind me to the left and turned around to see Vincent, Antoine V. and Olivier playing pétanque on their table. With juggling balls. It was HILARIOUS. They continued for the whole lesson. I think they also played some table "football", using the lid of a gluestick as the "ball" for a while. The guys are extremely entertaining.

During the break they moved onto the floor to play pétanque. A lot of people crowded around to watch. It was hilarious to watch them fight over who won. They even got the ruler out at one point. Bloody funny, I tell you. I wish I'd filmed some of it. I believe Manon did. Maby I'll ask for the video form her.

For lunch the day before the day before yesterday I had practically nothing as the chef forgot that I didn't eat fish. So I had two little baguettes, a yoghurt and about five clementines. The day before yesterday was better. Potato slices and spinach. We had bananas, too, so I donated mine to John, who, btw, came to school late. He wouldn't tell me why, or what he did over the holiday. Now I'm curious!

Marie's mum came to pick us up. I was puzzled but went along with it. Turns out we were going shopping for Camille's present. I didn't know it was her birthday, so I didn't have a present and I didn't know what to buy her. I did end up buying a few presents for people, though. I'm sending them as soon as  I can. Tomorrow I hope!

I also ended up buying a iPod Touch 64GB! <3<3>interwebs with it and listening to music. I believe it's a good investment! I mean it was expensive, but I'll have it for a loooooong time! The only thing about it that I don't like is thaat you need iTunes for it..

Waking up before 10 during the weekend for me is hell. I love to sleep in. I had to do so on Saturday as I was going to the fun fair that afternoon with a number of people : Pauline, Antoine A., Michou, Céline, Jordan and Lauren, whi I met when I got there. First we had to go get money for myself and Céline so we walked across the fun fair and to the Cergy Préf. shopping centre. Michou and Antoine were fighting/arguing most of the way and whenever Michou was about to say something, a chorus of "te gueule, Michael!" would burst out from three or so mouthes. These people are hilarious. I love them to bits! I've only met them twice now, but they're fantastic and I love hanging out with them.

On the way back we saw smoke coming from the general direction we were heading in. We walked closer and smelled burning gasoline. There was a car on fire right outside the shopping centre. It was pretty cool to see the flames and the smoke. It was like something out of a movie, really. The flames, the people crowding around, the smoke. The smell was pretty bad and got worse as we walked closer. We didn't stop and stare like most of the other people did, we kept ewalking towards the fun fair.

Once we got there we pretty much got on a ride as soon as we got there. It was about 4€/ride, so I only went of five (that's the most anyone got on). But it was so much fun. We walked for a while after some of the rides and at one point we bought Chi Chi's. I'd never heard of them before and I think they might be French. It's basically just flour and water mixed into a dough and deep fried rolled in sugar. Bloody delicious.

The rides there were awsome and pretty much worth the money. We had a great time, but we had to get going pretty early in order to make it to the movie we were going to afterwards. I realised I'd forgotten to tell Daniéle I was going to a movie after, so I texted her telling her I'd be home by 9.30 pm latest. She's really laid back about me going out with friends, thankfully, so she said it was ok.I would've died if she'd said no.

Before getting on the RER to the cinema we bought snacks. Antoine, Michou and I got the crisps and they were surprised that I was vegetarian when I pointed out I didn't eat barbecue crisps. Michou tried to argue the point that they were chemically made flavourings, but I told him I didn't like the taste, which isn't strictly a lie. I don't like the smell of meat anymore (it makes me a bit nauseaus), so I'm guessing I wouldn't like the taste either.

We had to run for the train as some of us (Antoine and Pauline) didn't have tickets for the train. We made it there with minutes to spare. We actually had to wait five or so minutes for the train.

We got on and we got off two stops later and quickly made out way to the cinema, meeting Anaïse on the way there. We got in line and got the tickets. We were already late for the movie, around 15 mins I believe.

The film was something French and I didn't really understand much except that it was set in a hospital and someone wanted someone dead and these two guys were looking for another guy who had been in an accident that was now being reported live and the hospital staff were all slutty nurses who didn't take crap from anyone. There was a guy with a panda costume at one point and this fat guy kept showing up everywhere. It was strange and no one got it. We left in the middle. At some point Tiana had joined us and Pauline had had to leave (her stp mother's b-day). We (well, Antoine was) were entering another theatre when the security guard came to throw us out. We all blame Antoine. Not that I mind that much.. It's less than five euros if you're inder 26 and have ID on you. I also got a member's card for free. Cool, eh?

After the movie we split up in two groups, one taking the train (Tiana, Jordan and I) and the rest waiting for a ride form Antoine's dad, I believe.

It made it home for eight. I was gutted, but I'd had a great day all the same! Daniéle and Sandrine (her best friend) had gone to get McDonalds. I ate an apple and a prece of bread a little later on. I wasn't particularly hungry after all the snacks and energy drinks.

Today there was a lunch in honour of Camille's birthday. I didn't have a gift but I assured her, against her will, that I'd get her one for next time she was here. And I think I have a good gift in mind. I have a bottole of red wine in my cupboard that was a gift form Saara, but we never got around to drinking it, and some chocolate. Camille loves chocolate. Just like Boris, who I haven't seen in ages. The last time was for just a few seconds while he was passing by. I forgot how funny he was!

The rest of the day went by with me surfing on the net (iPod mostly) and watching TV. I did finish my Agronomy project that's for tomorrow. I'm pretty happy with it. It's seven pages including everything, title page, summary and sources.

Tomorrow's school and I have no idea if I have running or if we change to muscle training (I'm hoping for option two!).

Day 63-69 - Shopping and Part-ay and Exercise

My alarm rang at what felt like the crack of dawn on Thursday morning. It was 07:30. I hit the snooze button and snoozed for another fifteen minutes or so after which I stumbled to the shower in the dark. It didn't seem like a very good day for shopping, I thought, as it was cloudy and it looked rather cold out.But it was the only free day Émily had, so shopping seemed like the natural way to spend time with the family, I guess. And I do agree.

Émily arrived just before nine a.m. and seemed extremely tired. Everyone did. I, on the other hand, after the shower, felt cheerful like always. Always a good thing, eh?

The ride to Troyes took three hours. I was expecting maximum an hour's ride, but I was in for a surprise.

It went surprisingly fast adn we only stopped once, for a toilet break (Daniéle)  sfter which Marie drove most of the rest of teh way to Troyes, while I was nodding off in the back seat, listening to music. I've noticed that my family only listens to music in the car, really. Marie occasionally listens to music (with headphones, and very quietly) while doing homework, but that really is it. Back to Marie. She's getting better at the speed thing. She still drives too slow, but I guess that's better than too fast before she gets her drivers license.

Once we got there I was amazed at the number of shops, designer shops, were squeezed into one place. There wa Calvin Klein and Swarkovsk outletsi among Mango and Nike. It's the most fantastic place to go shopping! There were a lot of sales from already lower priced items, for example four pairs of Calvin Klein undies for 20€. Normally it would've been closer to 40. I got a Nike bag foe 28€ and a Reebok T-shirst for 10, among a LOAD of other things! I bought close to 100€ worth of clothes form there! All clothes that I needed (except for one knit I could have technically lived without buying. I payes all in cash, so I knew exactly how much I'd spent.

It felt rather fantastic trying on all the clothes and somehow satisfying, too, to know I could buy them. We spent most of the day walking around in shops, trying things on and messing about. It was one of the best times I've had here so far!

After it started to get dark, we left and drove a half an hour away where there are malls with more shops. It was dak by the time we got there and we spent an hour or so in one of the many malls there. I got a further 50 or so € worth of clothes. I bought pjs (shirt and shorts), awsome trousers and a T-shirt. I'm extremely happy with the day's shopping. We spent most of the time at the mall in at a lingere shop looking and trying on different bras and (in my case) pjs.

During the long way home I tried sleeping, but It wasn't very comfortable, so I just listened to music the whole way and day dreamed (well, it was nine by the time we got home, so it was evening dreaming).

When we got home I took all ten or so bags to my room to see th catch of the day. I felt pleased, as I need to do no shopping for a while! Even though I sincerely love it..! There's a downside to shopping, which is the money it consumes without you noticing. Then you realise you have no money! It's a horrible thing to realise.

On Friday I believe I did nothing. Oh, no, I lie. On Friday I left at 10 a.m. to catch the RER to Paris and another RER to Cergy Préfecture to Pauline's house. I was very tired as I woke up "early" in order to get to Pauline's for 1130. The train ride was easy and I got there in less than an hour (starting form the station here, not my house).

Pauline came to pick me up from the station. She lives a 10-15 min walk form the station. The station is attached to a mall, I found out. We planned to go shopping after we were done with the work (herbarium) I was there to do. We walked the short way to her house, chatting all the while, mostly about the up comming party the next night.

We arrived at her house and met her dad chatting with a neighbour. He reminds me of her a littel. Or, I guess it should be the other way around. But yeah. He's very nice and knows a lot about history and geography. It's pretty freaky when he pulls out a number of random facts form out of nowhere. But pretty cool. His English is also pretty good. Very good for a French man. I now see where Pauline gets her language skills from.

The first thing we did, really was try to hook me up on the internet, without success. The next thing we did was eat. Pauline made soup, gnocchi and an omelette for her and her dad. Delicious. I love gnocchi. The soup was delicious, too.

After lunch we got to work. We found all the plants that we needed to on the internet. Pauline had been to the movies the previous day so she had a bag of sweets left over that we almost finished. Too good!

I wrote everything while Pauline watched TV and researched the info (too hard for me for now!). While we were working Pauline's step-mum came home. She's a big lady who seemed very kind and nice. We didn't get much of a chance to speak as he was preparing for the trip her and her husband were about to go on. They have a caravan and tehy were going camping somewhere (I forget). They left soon after she'd arrived. We were left alone to finish our work.

We finished writing all the information, but it was getting late and we had to get going. There was no time for shopping as it would take me over an hour to get home and Pauline had to go to her mum's house for the night. I've not been there yet, but maby one day. We'll see.

The journey home was uneventful, even more so than on the way to her house. I didn't get lost this time! I almost got lost when I was attempting to find the second RER train. Turns out it was on the other side of the tracks.. I felt like an idiot.

From the St-Germain station I walked the 20 minutes home. It was a beautiful night and I enjoyed the fresh air. Plus I had no heels on so I didn't die! I got home just after seven. I was getting hungry and was happy to find we'd be eating soon. We were having gnocchi, for the second time that day for me. Not that I'm complaining one bit, definately not. I love gnocchi.

On Saturday I woke up around 11a.m., but I stayed in bed for a little longer, thinking about stuff. Just random thoughts running through my head. With a sigh I got up to eat breakfast and have a shower.

During the night Camille had arrived. I saw her car on the driveway when I wen to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Plus her door was closed, which isn't too uncommon, but very often it's cracked at teh very least.

I spent few hours after lunch on the computer before I had to leave, at about four thirty, for Pauline's for her (late) birthday party. Her birthday was over a month ago now. But I'm glad he had it late! I understood more of what was going on! I'm getting ahead of myself.

Daniéle drove us to a near-by station as some tracks were closed for reparations. we got there with ten minutes to spare, so we sat (Marie stood) at the station, chatting. The train came and just as it was leaving we saw Aude, a friend of Marie and PAuline's, run for the train and just miss it! The next one came in almost an hour! I felt for her, her having to wait for ages to catch the next train to Paris.

The journey passed relatively quickly and we were soon getting off at the last stop.  We had to catch another train in order to get to Pauline's. Leonie caught up with us on the train. The second train ride didn't take very long either and we soon arrived and met up with Pauline, Anaïse and Tiana (I think it was). We waited a few minutes and were joined by Antoine A. and Michael (aka Michou). Then we headed off to the shop to buy snacks. Soon after we had arrived Manon called to say she was at the station and if someone could come and get her. We left the guys and Anaïse and Tiana to do the shopping and went to get Manon. After we met up with her we headed back to the shop to see what the guys had bought. Mainly it was just Red Bull, crisps and sweets. YUMMY! 

We walked to Pauline's house where there were a few other people waiting for us. There was Jordan, Marie V. and Céline. They had warmed up the pizzas for everyone and had gotten the place ready. Once we arrived we got the snacks out and got the party started. Music and chatting. Half an hour in Aude and Joachim called to say he was almost at the station. Pauline, Marie and Leonie left the rest of us to go and get them.

A long while later Leonie and Aude joined us. Marie and Pauline stayed to wait for Joachim's bus to arrive and eventually they arrived, too.

As the night went on games were played, music was playing the whole time and dancing took place. The last game we played before Marie, Aude and Leonie left was poker. I was playing with Jordan as he didn't know how to play, but I think he pretty much knows how to play it now. I let him make most of the decisinos and only helped out if he asked or I thought he needed advice. We ended up winning (we didn't finish the game as it would've take too long, so we counted up the winnings, well, looked at the piles and ours was obviously the biggest.).

Everyone else, excluding Tiana stayed over for the night. Joachim and Manon were teh only ones to get any real sleep. I didn't even attempt to. The night passed too fast as we were having so much fun! We palyed a role play game before anyone even thought of sleeping. At first I didn't understand what teh heck was going on, but I got it in the end and had a great time.

We stayed up talking throughout hte night. Well, I was listening and Antoine made fun of me, but I'm not that bothered. He's a fantastic guy, even though he did that poke/tickle thing that guys seem to like to do. Anyone know what I'm on about? So I obviously had to get him back for it, didn't I?

A lot of giggling went on during the night and a lot of place switching. It was interesting to watch. I took some pictures, but more than that I took videos of people dancing. It was fun.

In the morning at around 8 a.m. Marie, Céline and Antoine went to the near-by boulangerie to get some breakfast. We had croissants or pain du chocolat. I had a croissant, as I can't eat anything too sweet in the morning. It was yummy as it was freshly made and still slightly warm. Miam as the French say.

After that people started leaving, really. I was among the last to leave along with Michou, Antoine and Anaïse. We walked, they talked, I said a few words. It was, all in all, a fun journey. All the people I met this weekend were really nice and I'm happy I met them. We parted with bisous (naturally) and saying maby we'll see again. Anaïse took the bus and Antoine and Michou took another.

I got on the train, a little confused as to where exactly I was going. Thankfully Daniéle had sent me a message telling me how to get home as she wasn't sure if the tracks were open to traffic yet. I missed my connection as I hesitated a few seconds too long and ended up having to wait 20 minutes for the next train in the windy and rainy, barely covered station. I lived through it and caught the next train.

I got off at the last stop and went to find the last train. I had to wait another 10 minutes for it to ariive and a further five for it to leave the station. Before getting on I bought a Bounty bar as I was hungry. I've not had a Bounty in a LONG time, so it felt goooood to bite into the crunchy chocolate and dig into that coconut filling. It felt satisfying. Plus I was starting to get a bit of a head ache from not sleeping. :S

I almost nodded off on the previous train and I was worried it might happen again. Bounty helped, I believe, to help me stay awake.

Daniéle cam and picked me up at the station and I was glad to get in the warm car and relax. She asked about the night and I told her I'd had a fantabulous time.

We ate fondue once we got home, with the exception of Marie who doesn't like the "individual pots". She had steak and couscous. I, on the other hand, finished the whole thing and would've had more if there had been more. But I was definately full, even though I could've eaten more.

After lunch I spent some time on the computer watching Family Guy on the internet until I thought I was going to fall asleep on the computer. I decided it was time to hit the sack for an hour. So I set my alarm clock for four.

All I remember is that I woke up at five thirty, refreshed and not tired. I went to join Marie and Daniéle in the livingroom where they were watching TV (surprise). The rest of the night passed calmly and I hit the sack around 12 a.m.

I woke up just after 11, blinking. It was pitch black so blinking didn't help. I fell out of bed and headed for breakfast. I had very little, as I knew we'd be having lunch soon enough. A banana and some cereals. Delicious.

I cannot remember what I did on Monday, so it must've been another lazy day, filled with computer and starting the Agronomy project. 

I remember waking up at 11 or so yeaterday, too, but that's pretty much all that happened unti about 1845 when Émilie came to pick me up to do sports. We arrived just in time.

The first part of the session was easy. It was cardio, a bit like dancing, really, and that's how I took it. We had a short routine, very simple but a lot of fun. And good exercise!

The second part was muscle training. We used a medicine ball sized ball filled with air to do all the exercises. It was HORRIBLE! But I felt good afterwards. My muscles are a bit sore, but not too much so.

I had dinner and watched telly until one a.m. - not a good idea, but I was watching a show about out of contro teens whose parents get a "big brother" to come and make them behave. It was pretty interesting and fun to watch. Kind of horrifying, though! It's the parent's fault for not having any boundries!

Today I woke up just before 12 p.m. I was surprised as I had put my alarm to ring for 10. I don't remember hitting the snooze button oddly enough!

We were supposed to go to la Château de Versailles, but the friend of Daniéle's who was supposed to come with us couldn't make it, so we're going another time.

Tonight we had salad and salty crêpe-type rolls filled with goat's cheese and tomatoes. Delicious! Plus créme burlée for dessert. Doubly delicious!

Tomorrow is school.. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, but not so much for the classes. Thursdays pretty much suck a**.

On Saturday I was invited to join Pauline and most of the rest of the people from the party to go to a fun faire. Of course I accepted! It'll be a blast!

I have to stop now as the laptop is runnung out of battery on me and I'm really tired, but more to come tomorrow. Naturally! Sorry it was a week without entries.. I've been busy and/or tired! Bsxx