Last Day in Thoiry...First Day in Madrid

¡Hola de Madrid!

My plane left at 6:55 this morning and landed at 8:55. Holy early morning.

My last day in France was spent at a festival to honor Voltaire. The town Ferney Voltaire, where he lived, is just a 15 minute drive from Thoiry. It is actually where I'll be taking French classes when I go back in August.

Every year they have this festival with lots of food and entertainment. Honestly, it wasn't that great. It was cold and rainy so I didn't take my camera for good pictures. But I did have some delicious soup and a yummy almond tart. And I got to see some dancing. Five couples got on the stage and danced in the traditional clothes and wooden clogs. Pretty interesting.

{Here is a horrible picture from my iPod. Enjoy.}

We got back to the house at 10:30 pm...just in time for dinner. #italianlife 

We ate until 11:30 and then they finally let me go to sleep. 

I got to bed at 2 after I finished packing and cleaning up the apartment. I had a nice three hour nap before I had to be up at 5 to go to the airport. Needless to say, I was exhausted this morning.

Thank you, Swiss, for the free chocolate.

Fortunately, the family here in Spain sent me straight to bed where I slept until 3 this afternoon. 

Glorious sleep!

I had a traditional Spanish lunch of hamburgers and french fries. Then we went on a bike ride around the area where they live. I found the mall (woohoo!) and a gorgeous park. I'm excited to explore some more in the coming weeks.

The family is going out of town next weekend so I'll be by myself from Friday afternoon until Sunday. I'm really looking forward to some quiet time to myself. These past seven weeks have been a whirlwind and I still haven't really had time to process everything. So next weekend will be good!

I am loving Madrid already. The weather is very similar to Georgia so it feels like home. It's really refreshing to feel hot outside. I was sick of wearing jackets and pants!

My family in America is driving to the beach today. While I'm so happy to be in Europe, I'm kind of sad I am not there with them. This is the first time -ever- that I've missed a beach trip with my family.

I'm missing them a lot today when I think of all the fun they're about to have.

But it's okay. Because I'm in Spain! I can't really complain.

Hedgehogs

Ciao from France! I am now in the house where I'll be staying from August to December. This family was gracious enough to allow Rachel and me to stay for a week. Rachel left yesterday afternoon (sad day!) so now it's just me. I'm using this day to catch up on rest, pack my bags, and update my blog and pictures! I will be leaving early Sunday morning to go to Spain.

This family here in France has been absolutely wonderful. We are getting to know each other in this short trip and I think we're going to get along well.

Yesterday, the oldest one came to get me because she found a hedgehog in the road.

So I got to hold it. Can't say I've ever done that before!

This is what happens when you let someone use your camera...your head gets chopped off. 

Geneva is really great. But Thoiry, France is stunning. It's a tiny little village in France (right across the border from Switzerland) that backs up to a national park. I can walk to the mountains in 20 minutes. I will definitely be taking a lot of walks while I'm here.

This afternoon, I am going to Filomena's school. Next week is their last week before summer. Her principal is retiring and they are putting on a little show for him. Should be interesting!

Camp Life

Just a few pictures from camp! Sorry for the horrible quality. I have more on my camera but I'm too lazy to get up right now.

We're learning about Native Americans this week. Because my first graders can't understand anything I say, we do a lot of drawing and coloring.

No...this isn't lunch. It's a snack.

This cutie's mother is the teacher I helped last year in Italy. So happy to have her in my class!

I have the cutest little blind boy in my class! He is so incredibly smart and the sweetest child I've ever met. All the other students love him.

This is my trouble maker. I made him color about 10 logs for our fire to keep him quiet. We ended up only using three. Oops.

After our indian pow wow with our shakers.

Random Things:

1. I hurt my foot somehow while we were traveling. My brother thinks it may be a stress fracture. Obviously it's not the best situation for working at a children's camp. So I asked my host mom for ice. Because they don't use ice in my house, I'm currently icing my foot with mozzarella. Yes. The cheese. It was either that or pizza. I went with the smaller option.

2. I watched Beauty and the Beast last night. Forgot how much I love that movie. Quality way to end the night.

Being Sick Abroad

I have unfortunately been in the bed sick all day. I had to miss the first day of camp which I absolutely hate! But I'm feeling better now. So hopefully tomorrow morning I will be ready to go!

My host family has been the absolute sweetest today.

This morning when I went downstairs, I told my "mom" I was sick and she made me some tea.

She sent me right back to bed when she went to work.

All throughout the day, my siblings have been checking on me. I kept hearing the door open a little. I was too weak to talk to them, but I really appreciated it!

They even delivered tea and crackers to my room while I was sleeping.

When I finally left my room about an hour ago, two of my siblings rushed to me to make sure I was okay.

I literally could not ask for a better host family.

Being sick is no fun. Especially in a foreign country with different people.

I'm so thankful this family is truly like my second family.

I feel so comfortable with them and they do everything they can to make me feel at home.

I guess if I had to be sick somewhere other than at home, this would be a good place for it.

First Dinner

Said goodbye to this girl as a traveling partner two nights ago. After being with her for 3 weeks straight, it was weird to be apart. We got to see each other today for a good seven hours so the separation anxiety wasn't that bad.

Don't know what I'm going to do when she goes back to America and I stay in Europe!

Thanks for being such a great traveling buddy, Rachel! We had such a great time and awesome conversations. Literally don't know what I would have done without you. I would probably still be lost in Edinburgh trying to find my way back to the castle :)

And because I'm in Italy, what's a post without food?

This was the first real dinner of my time here. Gnocco with lots of different meats and cheeses. So delicious. The mozzarella was to die for. Yummmm. Pretty sure I ate half of the bowl of gnocco by myself.

I tried to get some good pictures of dinner but my family made fun of me. So I put my camera up. But next time I'm not going to listen to them!

In case you can't tell, it's great to be back here. I missed these guys so much!

Back Home

I am finally in Italy!

Our train got in last night around 9:45. My family met me at the train station and we headed "home"!

I took a nice long shower with hot water and no shower shoes. Amazing.

Then I got to do laundry. HEAVEN!!

So excited for clean clothes.

Traveling for three weeks was amazing. But I didn't realize how taxing it would be. My body is sore, my brain is fried, and I'm just tired. It's nice to be in one place for two weeks. To sleep in a real bed with a family I know and love. Not to mention all the great food.

Last night, we had dinner at 10:30 (my second dinner...these Italians eat so late!) then we talked around the dinner table until after 2. Needless to say, I slept in this morning.

Today, we are going to Nonna's house for lunch. Then Carlotta and I will be watching Gossip Girl in the afternoon. (It's still on here so I'm super excited for that.) Tonight we are going out for pizza. Should be a great day! It feels so good to be here!

*More posts on the way with lots of pictures from our past three weeks!

Yummy Crapes

These days are just flying by! We have been so busy every day that it's hard to have time to get on the computer. And who would want to when you could be out living life in Europe?!

We have been in Paris for a few days now. Tomorrow is sadly our last day.

The good news is we're going on a day trip to Versailles.

So excited.

Last night, we had dinner at a creperie recommended to us by a local. 

Oh. My. Word. Delicious.

So good, in fact, that we're going back tomorrow night.

I tried to upload a picture of the actual crepes but this hostel internet system isn't agreeing with me. You'll have to wait for more later.

Funny story:

We asked the local for the best place in town for crepes. We pronounced it like crapes (that's how we've always heard it). She replied, "I don't know what you are talking about." To which we replied with, "Ummm you're famous for them...???"

We actually had to spell it out on a sheet of paper because she couldn't understand what we were saying. Southern accent at work right there, folks.

Thursday we are headed to Italy! We are so excited to finally be in one place for an extended amount of time. And we're excited for the food. Obviously.

Prayers for safe travel would be greatly appreciated!