Here's the sum-up

Maybe you got an email telling you about this blog, complete with a bullet list of things that would be here.

Here's the thing ...

I have been here for two weeks and a LOT has happened. I would love to go into intense detail but ... I just don't have the time. See, I go to school and you know ... live. That is to say, not in front of the computer. The Rotary frowns upon that. Incidentally, so do I.

As the title said: here's the sum-up.

Shoot. First I have to say Allez les Bleus, for as I type this the wonderful French are facing the dirty Italians in a footie match. They just scored--the French, that is ... not the dirty Italians.

Oh ... Italians are only dirty when it comes to soccer. Otherwise they're wonderful people ... great food.

Anyhow ...

I arrived in France about on time on August 23. My first (and current) host family, the Petiots, were on holiday in India at the time, so my second host mother (grandmother?) picked me up: Marguerite (Guite) Benoit.

I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was sooooo tired that day. In the middle of studying some French verb conjugations, I went to my bedroom to get a pencil and accidentally fell asleep.

Guite's daughter and son-in-law live in a house in her garden (Guite's garden) with their three daughters. Guite's daughter is named Odile and her husband (who's from Nigeria) is named Kadir. Their three adorable daughters are Kenza (10), Maissane (7), and Hilal (1). As little kids tend to do, they avoided me like the Plague at first, only saying "Bonjour!" when Guite asked "Aren't you going to say good morning to Leah?"

At the final Rotary convention-thinger in Ohio, I got a paper that said something approximate to "It is not unusual for exchange students to gain up to 25 Kg on their exchange." 25 Kg ... that's about 60 lbs ... no thank you. But living with Guite, I could see why they said that. She's a very nurturing person (much like my owe grandmother) and would frequently ask "Tu veux encore?" which means "Do you want more?" I made it a point to quickly learn to say that I'm full (Je n'ai plus faim).

I also had the opportunity to meet Guite's brother Emmanuel, his wife, Nicole, and their daughter, Elodie. Emmanuel is soooooo nice--and a Buddhist. He reminded me of Uncle John for some reason ... couldn't say why ...

Well, I'd say that's a reasonable first dose, wouldn't you? More soon, more soon ...

Cheers!
Leah