HAPPY MARCH!
Funnily enough, though, I really don't have much to update. I'm on a farm now... out in the middle of nowhere. Really, 2km one direction are the neighbours, 3km the other way is Genneton, the village. I wake up at 5:45am every school morning so I can get a car ride in the clown car (I'm either squished to one side with my host brother and one of the other carpool guys, or I'm squished between two guys), about 15km (... I dunno, almost 10 miles?) to the bus stop. the bus picks us up at 6:45am, I arrive at school at 7:40am. I like the long bus ride though, clears the mind.
Well, until my last host sister comes on, then if I'm not already asleep I fake it. My last host family... oh my goodness, that reminds me... they're such backstabbers. Let me explain.
The 2nd or 3rd weekend of January, there was a Rotary weekend in La Flechè (all the other inbounds... one came on the Saturday, 2 left on the Saturday). I also found out there that... SHANNON SWITCHED INTO MY DISTRICT. I arrived with the Mexican girl in the town about 20km from me and another car shows up behind us. I step out... I look into the window of the other car and i was like "do I know that person?" and then the door opened and I was literally "=oooo" because Shannon stepped out. I mean, she was supposed to be outside of Paris right? Well, it turns out she had 1 host family the whole year and it was going badly and when she requested a switch her club DENIED it. She requested a district switch then, so now she's in the Pays de la Loire part of the district with another American.
Anyways, at La Flechè... I was up in this space with the beds (its like a mini call and inside each were 2 beds) with two other girls and a guy (all Americans - one girl is from somewhere in Arkansas I keep forgetting the name of, the town with the mother of 18 kids apparently, the other girl is from Portland, and the guy is from Hawaii), when my YEO came upstairs she said "Sarah I need to talk to you". She brings me into her room...
Ok, I gotta say, not meaning to brag or anything, but after all the crap I managed to get out with my first host family (it got bad... like we had a huge blow-out fight about 3 weeks before I left that ended with my locking myself in the bathroom for half an hour - I don't remember if I mentioned this but... yea, do NOT take exchange student's things basically), and then having it dished right back totally hammed up to the point of its bull only 3 weeks later... I deserve kudos for staying calm and normal throughout that entire 20 minute talk.
"I don't know who I got this from, but..." was the first thing. I saw the paper and I KNEW, I just KNEW it was my last host mom. What clarified it actually was the humour I found in the situation (and that's a must, finding humour in the most serious of situations - makes it easier to deal with I've learned).
"She never changes her underwear."
Like... say WHAAA? I was biting my lip on the inside to stop from laughing at that. Basically because I don't change my underwear 3 times a day (believe me, this family was bizarre. This is the family that talked about me "not having enough bras" and "if I dont use more bras I'll get an infection" during lunch, no stretch of truth, they said that, especially the infection thing... I'll never forget that)... I don't change it at ALL apparently. Then "I never change my socks" but the thing is... before coming here I always went barefoot in the house - I hate socks, still do. But the French believe old wive's tales, about "if you are barefoot on a cold surface you'll get a sore throat". My host parents kept telling me that whenever I forgot to put on socks for their sake.
But yeah, the entire letter said; she never speaks (it was awkward at home and I REALLY sucked at French when I came - I speak more at school), she has no friends (bull), always on the computer (LONG story about how that happened I won't get into but it required the family switch to overcome. It's not a lie basically...), never changes underwear or socks...
What does it end at?
"But she's very nice"
Really. "Mais elle est très gentile". Exact translation. Like seriously, 3 paragraps of mostly bull and she just cuts the suspense with that.
It took me 20 minutes to explain that those were major problems with my FIRST host family and since I've switched and now that I have younger host siblings it's MUCH better (it is honestly). When my YEO was convinced, she let me go. As soon as she went back down the stairs and I was back with the three Americans, I just broke down. My YEO never knew but I did - Kiefer, the Hawaiian, let me cry on his shoulder for 10 minutes and everything. Then the next hour we all talked about our host families (past or present) and problems we have or had and things about them that we find bizarre (you know, based on cultural differences. I can't think of a better word for it).
Anyways, the 2nd night we were there (Saturday), we all went to the town's Laser Bowl (it's a really big thing in this town that "everyone cool goes to every Friday night". it's a bowling place that has billiards/pool and a laser tag in the back). I played Laser Tag with 1 other Canadian girl, 1 French guy, and 4 Americans. This is how we tallied the score after we got the score sheets (I got 1st place for once in my life):
Canada won and lost (I was first, Meghan was last place) so we sandwich everyone. France came in second ("they're always 2nd"), and America is in last place between the Canadian sandwich.
So yea, that was the big thing of January.
BUT in early January after New Years, we had a baby sheep in the house for about 2 weeks in the garage/basement beneath a heating light and it was being fed (I accidently said "milked" in my last update and I also said "I dunno if it's a boy or girl"... whenever I say "milked" I mean "feeding it milk" but... yea. I only heard "... uh, Sarah, you would know if you were milking a boy or girl. Either you're milking it or you're 'milking' it ;)" xD).
He came back in February for about 2 weeks. Then I got to feed it the bottle and everything! It was so cool.
I also heard slaughter day but i didnt' realize it for awhile. In Chilliwack we have an old, non-used navy base (its open to the public, the police and army use certain areas for training) and within it is an artillery range and you hear the gunshots a lot (I live about a 5 minute's drive from it, 10-15 minutes walk). Because I've heard those shots for 3 years, my first thought was "... there's a nearby artillery range? Where?"
(if you've been to Oak Harbor, Kevin and maddy... it's like the jets that fly over the town constantly. I miss that town, it was nice... But yea, it was really loud, this noise...)
Yea, it wasn't.
Ironically we were barbecuing as these cows were being slaughtered for meat...
But then near the end of February... omg I'll never forget this. I heard a car outside and I got up and looked out the window and nearly puked - a tractor was parked in the front and hanging off the prongs was a totally skinned, severed (like no head, limbs...) PIG. Just a bunch of meat hanging there.
Two nights later it was on the table in a bowl for the entrée. Haven't touched it; every time I see it I see that mutilated pig hanging off the prongs of the tractor.
I've gone to one major place within the past 2 months. Seriously. I went to Thouars for a day - another town in my district (with Rotary but they don't host students). Took the world's dinkiest path (and the "bridges" across some streams were nothing but sticks and loose rock, no joke. Out of the 4 crossings only 1 had a real bridge over it), but saw a cute little waterfall and got a good long workout. Yet I didn't fall asleep in the hour long car ride back... interesting.
I'm going to Paris with my host family tomorrow - my host mom has family who has a house outside of Paris or an apartment inside (I don't remember what it was exactly). I know I'm seeing the stuff I haven't already seen (I went in March with my school last year), such as the Sacrée Coeur (literally sacred heart), and I probably will see the Eiffel Tower again while there.
I switch to my last host family, so far set, on March 29th. I'll FINALLY be IN TOWN and not in a tiny village outside. I could get a good exercise walking home - I've done it before to go to the supermarket at the bottom of this hill (it's about 20 minutes and add another 10 going up another hill to another store and turning off to get to the house) and my host sister is 19 and she has her A so she drives herself to school... so she'll just drop me off along the way. Normal wake-up call times next - yay! Lol.
Once again, sorry about not updating in FOREVER. I forgot... =)
PICTURES! I'm too lazy to upload them onto Facebook... I'll get to it one day. everyone else in my district tags me in anything so I don't really see much need I guess... and I never really have the time... well I do but I'm always doing something else. Lol xD
A pretty rock on the hike in Thouars.
On the way to the trail to the waterfall in Thouars, we passed by a motocross track with the club practicing.
Me with my obnoxiously long hair... in front of the cute little waterfall.
THIS was the good "bridge" we had across a stream (minus the one real bridge). All the others were stick and loose rock with gaps in between. Fun times, fun times... =)
All of us who played Laser Tag. Edouard, Anders, me, Eliot, Alyssa... at the bottom is Meghan (green) and Rowan. Seriously, halfway through our game some random Frenchies ran in and they joined us... that is never supposed to happen but whatever, even if they didn't count for points in our competition it was fun to have twice the targets.
Everybody in our district! 4 Canadians, 10 Americans, 8 Mexicans, 1 German, and 1 Austrian (I also head counted the Americans and Mexicans based on this picture so I wouldn't be surprised if I messed up =P). We did have 1 other Mexican (no idea what happened to him) and 1 Swedish girl (she lost a LOT of weight and was really depressed - went home before Christmas)
Almost everyone at this cute little bridge during our hike. Or it is everyone... mneh, I'm too lazy to head count again.
Me, Alyssa (Arkansas), and Meghan (Niagara Falls, Ontario) attempting to be Charlie's Angels.
I think it was me who said "I wonder if we could fit in that closet"... we all took turns squeezing in =)
Downstairs in the building we were sleeping in.