Friday March 27, 2009: Giant Worm

Friday was the day the American students left to head over to France! I left school about two twenty and wet home to finish packing and leave for the airport. Our car had an engine malfunction and I am not sure if it is better haha! At the airport, a dog came to sniff for drugs and we were clean! I was hoping the dog would sniff us too but it didn't. We had to get checked in, say our goodbyes to our family and friends, and go through security. Then we had to wait for the plane to arrive. A couple of students never flown before and I thought that was interesting. There first time flying was out of the United States! The first plane was not very long and I sat next to Sam. Then to Frankfurt was long haha! I sat next to Kate and we had little TVs in front of us but ours did not work. :( It was not very comfortable sleeping and I woke up and fell asleep a couple of times. We were served chicken, vegetables, and rice, salad, a roll, and a brownie I think. I also bought a sandwich and a banana nut muffin at the airport. I ate the muffin for breakfast in the morning. When we arrived at the airport, we went through customs and the man I went to seemed friendly. Then we picked up our bags and during that time I took pictures and went to the restroom. It was very cool! The toilets were like a little room! I took pictures of it too haha! As we were leaving, some of the French students were there to greet us. We took a charter bus to Strasbourg and that was about three hours long. I was trying to stay awake but I was so tired and fell alseep for a few minutes. The cars are a lot smaller then the cars we drive in America. There are many similar cars too like the Mini Cooper, some BMWs, certain Mercedes, Audis and more Audis than I see in where I live, some Hondas, Volkswagons, and a few Fords. The are many foreign companys to me and I am not sure of the names. There was a huge worm I saw on the sidewalk while we were wainting for our host families to pick us up. Evelyne arrived with her friends because she was doing homework with them so we had to wait a little while for her parents to pick us up. Her mother, father, and younger sister arrived in a red Volkswagon van looking car but without sliding doors, just normal doors. They seemed shy and we headed to his stores where I was able to send emails and try to call my parents. Afterwards we headed to a furniture store called Ikea where I had a late lunch. I had salmon, noodles, carrots, and water. It was yummy. Then we headed home I got a tour of her house. It is a lot smaller compared to houses in the United States. There is a kitchen, a living room, three small bed rooms, a toilet room, and a bathroom with only a sink and tub in it. I share a room with Evelyne. I gave Evelyne her presents (peanut butter, jelly beans, a coconut smelling pillow decoration, Reese's Pieces, and a picure frame) and she was sooo excited and happy!!!! I took a shower and then read trying to stay up until dinner but I was way too tired and fell asleep! :)

Monday March 30, 2009: 64 Bugs

I am tired haha. I am at a internet shop with Evelyne because the internet at her house. Today I woke up and got dressed. I had to go to the bathroom so badly haha! I got dressed and put my contacts in and then ate some breakfast which was cereal. Then I brushed my teeth and we left to ride the subway. It was very crowded! We had to push our way onto and stand very close to eqch other. It takes over thirty minutes to get to her school. When we arrived, we stood in the playground I guess. It has a basketball court, a few trees, and many people. We waited and talked with each other for a few minutes and then went into the gym. We broke off into groups with our chaperones and toured around the school with middle school aged tour guides. That was horrible!! Haha not really but there seemed to be no point at first because there English wasn't very good and we do not speak French very well. They didn't seem to know where they were going but it was went more smoothy after awhile. All the students then met back in the gym and met up with our French students. They gave us a bag filled with little presents such as a bookbag, a T-shirt, mints, pens, and other little things. There was also refreshments but they ran out of cups when I wanted a drink. :( We moved on to the playground area again and went to the restroom before we went on the boat tour. The tour was like the tour I went on in Hooland, throungh the canals in a glass roof boat. We went in a lock which is a little area a boat enters to get higher. The boat enters, the gates close, water either fills up of drains out, and then we are on our way. The process takes about five minutes. We headed back to the school for an our break until lunch which you had the choice of some sort of salad, yogurt, plain pasta, stuffed pasta, some type of meat, and bread. I had yogurt, plain pasta, and bread. The man serving the pastas did not speak English so I didn't risk taking the stuffed pasta which I found out was cheese. Water was served to dink and my some of my noodles were hard. After we cleaned up and went to the restroom again, we (by we I mean the American students and teacher) headed off to the Cathedrale. It is a very big church that was built in the 12th century I think. Three meters below it is water. It was pretty cold in there and the was a cool clock! It shows where the planets are and what time it is. Little angel hits a bell and then an old man hits back and so on until the number of hits match up with the hour. Another angel flips a timer with sand in it. I cannot think of the name at the moment. After the Cathedrale we headed to a smaller church and I do not know what church or why or anything about it. Evelyne gave me bread this morning to take from her mother and it was very delicious! Zack and I were walking together and we started talking about Bob Marley and how many French wear his shirt. I have not seen any but he said he did. He also told me that after Bob Marley died that they found 64 different types of bugs in his hair!! How nasty!!! We stopped in a dessert shop that looked very good but I did not buy anything. Finally we headed back to the school and met up with our French friends who were finishing class or some had to stay in class a little while longer. Evelyne and I rode the subway to the mall where the internet shop is located and that was my day!

ONE WEEK UNTIL FRANCE!!!!!!!!!! :))