Our schedules changed today. So now my Monday consists of the regular hour with Père Boly, étude, two hours of Gym, Français, Histoire, and Math. I'm really enjoying my gym classes here. Back in the States, I was totally unathletic and I couldn't play any sport to save my life and I was just the awkward girl. And then something happened. I don't know when, and I don't know how but all of the sudden, I do not suck! I can run well, I can catch a ball, and people want me on their team! It's wonderful. I thoroughly enjoy my two hours of gym every week.
This was my first Histoire class here. Because before the schedule changed, my two hours a week of Histoire were during my classes with Père Boly. So I was never able to go. And I was deathly afraid that the prof was going to hate me. But he was totally understanding and it was all good. Plus, I sat next to my good friend Maxime, who is the best and lets me copy his notes and explains things when I don't understand. Yay for having friends!
I decided today that I was going to treat my host family to a little taste of home. So I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Homestyle, with that famous Nestle recipe. Now I will admit, the Europeans definitely have us beat on most food. The bread here is to die for and the cheese is fantastic. Not to mention that everything is five million and one times fresher. BUT if there's one thing Americans know, it's the sweet tooth. We make the best cookies, and that's all there is to it. But American cookies are very different from anything here. For one thing, using baking soda is practically unheard of. I was lucky to find it in the store. It is also slightly difficult to find chocolate chips. My host mom thought I would have to take a chocolate bar and just cut it up. But we ended up finding a bag of those too. And vanilla extract is not a common household item either. But I was able to find everything I needed and made some delicious chocolate chip cookies! I have to say, they were better than the ones that I made with Manon. I'm not sure what was different, but even once I started making the dough, I could tell that the consistency was right on and everything was going to be great! They baked perfectly, came out nice and fresh and then cooled into that perfect, flat-topped cookie that everyone knows so well. I had mine while they were still warm with ice-cold milk. It was heaven. And my host family thought that they were fantastic too. Score one for Emma!
My host mom graciously returned the favor with a wonderful traditional Belgian dinner. It was some sort of meat over rice, topped with a sauce Liègois. Basically, it is made from this really thick syrup that is made from pears and apples. I had some straight, and it wasn't bad, but it was very strong. Almost like molasses. I couldn't just eat a spoonful of it. But in this sauce, it was delicious. We had it with some cooked pears and it was wonderful. And of course, my cookies for dessert :)
I forgot to mention something about France in my blog yesterday. It's very important. In France, at least where we were, they don't have a cup of coffee in the morning. They have a bowl of coffee. I'm serious. We sat down to breakfast, and I thought the bowls that were set out were for cereal or the fruit salad, but no. They poured entire bowls of coffee for themselves and drank it like soup. It was so interesting. I don't understand how a person can drink that much coffee. Insane.
Now I am Skyping with my family and then it is off to bed with me. Bonne nuit!
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