Let me just start off by saying that after being here, I so very much more appreciate holidays in the States. Today is one of the two major holidays that we base our year off of in the States and here is seems to be barely regarded as more than just another Sunday. Let me back up a little.
Yesterday, I switched host families. It was pretty emotional for me, actually, as I had become decently attached to the other one. I had packed up my entire life, again, and it came to be about three suitcases, two big duffel bags, five boxes, four other bags, my purse, and my laptop bag. Wow! My new host mom, Marie-Noelle, came to pick me up with two of my host sisters, Manon (you all know her) and Philippine, around 2pm, just after Colette had gotten back from her meetings and we were having champagne to celebrate the time that I was at their house. Then we packed up Marie-Noelle's car but it didn't fit so Ben ended up driving me over to the new house with the rest of my stuff. I said all my goodbyes, and yes I cried a little in the car. But I got to the new house and my goodness is it a castle. Obviously I've been there before and I knew my room would be giant, but I had forgotten just how giant. I spent the rest of the day unpacking, talking with my new host family, and decorating my room with all my pictures and such. I took my time and I was kind of sad but in the end, I could see how excited my new family is to have me and I quickly realized that I'm going to have a great last part of my exchange here.
My new host family consists of my host parents, Marie-Noelle and Pierre, three sister, Philippine (the youngest), Manon (my age), and Géraldine (university) and then there is also a brother, Antoine, but I apparently won't be seeing much of him as he apparently only comes home every so often... Anyways, I got all settled in, ate dinner with them last night and then went to a horse show with Manon and Philippine and my host dad. We have a friend, Kathleen, who rides but instead of just regular horseback riding, she does a sort of Spanish style riding and this was her show. So all the girls who rode had these huge beautiful dresses that pretty much covered the horses' backs entirely and the men were dressed in Spanish-type costumes also. The show was really interesting; I had never seen anything like that before. I enjoyed myself. And anyways, I've always though horseback riding was really cool, I just never got into it myself.
After talking seeing Kathleen afterwards, Manon and I went into town to get a drink at the bar with the kids from school that I hadn't seen since before I went to Paris. It was a great night! I got to see all my friends, heard stories, told stories, and just caught up with life. And then we went back to the house and I spent my first night in my new host house.
Then this morning was Easter. We got up semi-early and got ready to go to church for 10am. But we got there and it turned out that the mass wasn't until 10 30. Needless to say, we missed out on an extra half hour of sleep... But it's no big deal, because the mass was actually nice. It had been the first time since I had been to one since Christmas, and I'm sure you all remember... That one had been potentially the most depressing mass of my life. But this one was good. The choir was energetic, I understood what the priest said, and I was able to really follow along the way I did in the States. Plus, the church was full and bright and the whole feeling was just much happier.
Other than the mass, the day was really not much different than any other... There were chocolate eggs on our plates at breakfast, but the whole idea of Easter candy was not nearly as prominent as in the States. No baskets, no Easter bunny, just a few chocolate eggs. No family get togethers either. Obviously, we all ate lunch and dinner together, but nothing out of the ordinary. This afternoon I sat out in the sun with my host sisters and ended up falling asleep out there. I woke up with a nice shorts tan. There's a lovely line across both my thighs. I watched some tv, napped, Skyped with the fam... Nothing really out of the ordinary from any other day. Tomorrow is our last day of break. I'm going to sleep in. And write my Italy blog. Promise. Until then, bonne nuit !
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