merci. // thank you.

when i first pictured coming to france, i thought it would be the best thing that ever happened to me. i pictured the stereotypical french life, only, with me in it this time. i wanted so badly for this trip to be that cliche french experience so that i could come back and say, yes, i did wear a beret everyday or sure, i sipped an espresso every morning. but, when i actually got here... it wasn't like that... at all.

at first, i didn't understand... how could living in france be so different from how i had imagined? why on earth, did i take the toilet being in the same as the bathroom for granted? why had i thought that european schooling was so much superior? why do i not appreciate the food i eat at home? after contemplating why not even a sliver of my french fantasy was going to come true, i realized that all my questioning was plainly and simply culture shock. all of you have read my blogs -- i was a fish out of water.

though i had spoken to camille via email and facebook chat, i was still thrown into a completely unknown setting. but, being forced to speak in french helped me improve and before i knew it, i had adjusted to life here. my french sisters enjoyed spending time with me and my french mom and dad made their best efforts to giving me the best experience i could have here. there's nothing more that i could've asked for -- other than more bread, of course.

i found out that there is nothing more rewarding than having strangers comment on your language skills or compliment your character. living in france has taught me more about myself than i imagined it would -- i have a renewed zest for life, an increased openness, a better sense of adventure and interest in the global cultures. i now know that i can stand on my own and communicate effectively (even if i do get those confused looks occasionally...). but, the most important thing i will take away from this experience, is the importance of family. i had never gotten homesick until i came to france and then boom! it hit me like a bus. i couldn't function properly. i didn't want to be in the same room when my french family embraced each other because it made me miss my family too much. basically, it was the most uncomfortable feeling i have ever experienced. do you get the picture...?

anyhow, i think that everything happens for a reason. i came to france to experience the culture and put my three years of french study to use. but, what i took from this trip was more than i bargained for. my french family is really close -- i can tell that even when the girls are on the floor wrestling or pulling each other's hair out, they love each other. when they embrace their parents, you can tell how much they mean to them -- it makes me realize how much i love my family. it's true when they say that you don't realize what you've got until you lose it. of course, i didn't "lose" my family... but i didn't have easy access to them, and i really missed that. it's not easy coming to a foreign country by yourself, but i am so grateful that i had a hard time here because it gave me this sense of strength that i know i didn't have before. for everything i gained from this experience, i believe some "merci's" or "thank you's" are in order:

thank you, mom and dad, for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to come to france and live here for two whole weeks. thank you, mme z, for teaching me how to speak french and for organizing one of the best experiences of my life. thank you, to the the language and friendship program, for matching me with the best french family i could ask for. thank you, to my french family for giving me a real insight to your culture and for accepting me! thank you... so much.

love you guys and SEE YOU TOMORROW!
xoxo,
jyothi

une journee pour aller. // one day to go.

i did not want to go to school today... absolutely did not want to go. but, i had to take the bus with camille this morning and make the trek "a l'ecole." when i got there, i found out that the students had to take a test so we weren't allowed to accompany them to class. figures... the last day of school, we're basically not allowed to go. anyhow, i spent the first hour of school in a small, claustrophobic room with the other americans and then we were "the teachers" of an english class the next hour. the english teacher talked to us before her class (in a funky british accent, mind you) and warned us that her class was, "not high-achieving... actually, quite slow at learning..." uh, what? are teachers here allowed to say stuff like that to students? apparently, so. it ends up that the "slow" class wasn't actually that slow, they were just extremely shy. i guess shy equals slow in france...?

after that, we were finally able to go to a class with our correspondents. the class was a technology class and the teacher literally stood at the front of class while the kids went c-r-a-z-y. i'm not even exaggerating... they were out of control. their cell phones were out playing michael jackson (they are so obsessed with him here -- it's quite ridiculous...), they were throwing scissors, and one kid even got up and knocked over this girl. i couldn't believe how chaotic the class was!

luckily, i was released from that mess into the courtyard where i waited to go to lunch. lunch was super bland today, but being the rebel that i am, i took two baguettes so that i could stuff one in my purse to snack on later (i think i got this "trait" from my dad == thanks, dad!). after lunch, our correspondents went to library, which was already stuffed with students. we didn't feel like going, so we headed to the cafeteria a second time with devon, who had come to the middle school for lunch. after lunch, our class met up in front of the middle school and we headed to enghien's hippodrome. it was humongous. unfortunately, there weren't any horses there and we weren't able to see a race -- the next one is on wednesday, and we'll be on a plane then.

in all honesty, the hippodrome wasn't all that interesting... but, we were able to go to a cafe after the tour for some drinks. i got a diet coke (i'd been craving my addiction for the past two weeks... all my family drinks is coke zero. it's just not the same...) and a crepe with nutella and bananas. now, i really don't care for bananas, but lemme tell ya -- that crepe was delicious. plain delicious, even if there was about a gallon of nutella on the thing. plus, being with my class was really enjoyable today, for some reason. it was nice talking about our experiences in france and our feelings about our return home -- a lot of us are really looking forward to stepping on american ground!

i realized that we all had a worthwhile time here, even if everything wasn't all that we expected it to be. obviously, you can't make all fantasies come to life, so all that we had hyped france up to be wasn't actually what france was like. it took me longer than i had imagined to adjust to life here, but when i adjusted, i realized that i would be leaving soon... what a bummer, hmmm? but, i decided that instead of dwelling on my regrets while being here, i need to forget the not-so-great parts and focus on the ones that made my stay truly amazing. i'm so fortunate that i had the opportunity to come to france and stay with a family! i owe it to myself to live it up the last day in france. in the words of madame z's facebook status, it's "time for the last hurrah in france!" nicely put, mme z.

love you guys and miss you... still!
xoxo,
jyothi

le vrai montmorency. // the true montmorency.

today was jam-packed with stuff to do -- and, guess what? it was all where i live: montmorency! the entire time i've been in france, i've been living in a town called 'montmorency,' about fifteen minutes away from enghien-les-bains, the town that i go to school in. i haven't done much here, but stay at home, sit at the bus stop and take only one walk in the park. so, i'm really glad that i had the opportunity to stay right at home and experience the town!

i went to bed really late last night due to the fact that my family had people over till about 2 am. i woke up and found camille eating a bunch of junk food for breakfast, so i of course, joined her. then, i went upstairs and decided to add a nice touch to my blog by changing the template... isn't it perfect?! that's when my french dad, christophe, walked in and told me that we were going to the market in two minutes. i changed my clothes in record timing and was out the door! montmorency is really small, so we walked by foot to center of the town where a market had been set up. there were a lot of food vendors, but more clothing vendors, which surprised me. anyhow, i got my fair share of purchasing things in french, because christophe made me buy chicken and two baguettes! boy, was that nervewracking...

after going to the market, we came home and then, christophe realized that he needed to go vote. we were out the door again within three seconds! the voting system here is really different, i noticed. right now, they are doing regional elections and there are two rounds. the first round is where everyone votes for whatever candidate is running and then round two is cut to two people running for office. the citizens get different pieces of papers with the candidates envelope on it, and they put their selection in the envelope, and then throw away the other ballots. and then, they finish the process by having someone open a box and allowing them to put their ballot inside -- it was really neat!

my day continued to go at a fast pace -- when i came home, we ate a quick lunch and then headed to camille's handball match. it was super intense! joni was there and we watched the first half. it was so fast-paced and incredibly exciting to watch. then, came the coolest thing ever. camille's mother picked us up and we went to see a ceramist in action. dominique, one of camille's mother's friends, creates these ceramic robots. my french mom, cathrine, has them all over the house. they are so cute! we got to go to the 'atelier' and watch her make them, which was by far, one of the most amazing things i have done in france. it is really spectacular seeing all of the monuments and museums, but every tourist sees that... no one ever gets to see a common person at work -- especially, an artist like dominique. some of her art is even going to be shown at the grand palais!

after that amazing opportunity, we dropped joni off (she came with us!) and went to pick up mathilde, who had a sleepover the previous night, at dominique's house. dominique's daughter, lilou, is mathilde's best friend (camille told me that "best friends" are really big here... you have to have one. i think that's weird...). their house is fantastic! dominique and her husband are both artists (she's a ceramist and he's a painter) so their house is super artsy. it's nested in this cove with a bunch of plants and the inside is full of their art and crazy furniture from ikea. i love it! they also had a rabbit hopping around the house, which was kind of bizarre...

anyhow, to top off my day, christophe took me to the top of the mountain (montmorency is a town on a mountain!) to see the eiffel tower at night! we went to a park and then got kicked out by the police, dang it. however, at eight o'clock, i was able to see the lights turn on. the view was spectacular! upon seeing the eiffel tower tonight, i realized that i leave in two days... what?! it seems like i've adjusted (finally...) and now i have to leave this all behind. though, i'll miss it here, i do believe that it's time to come home. i miss my family a ton, and while it'll be hard transitioning back into school, i have to do it sometime soon. my experience here has been incredible, though. i wouldn't change it for the world... not even a chanel purse. :)

lots of love! miss you guys so much!
xoxo,
jyothi

le tour fatigant. // the tiring tour.

yes, my friends, i went to paris AGAIN. it wasn't bad, though. i absolutely love paris -- i see something new everyday i'm there! today, i woke up early and my french mom, camille, and i went by metro to paris. it was really different being in the metro because i wasn't with my rowdy classmates. i missed being with them, surprisingly! anyhow, the first place we visited was le printemps or 'the luxury department store destination' as stated by the brochure. well, the brochure was right, because the first thing i saw when i walked in was dior and prada boutiques -- a little out of my price range... we still walked through the store and my mouth dropped at every one of my favorite designers. i even touched real, chanel shoes (one life goal now completed... totally kidding)! after visiting printemps, we walked to the galleries lafayettes. the ceiling of that place is spectacular! again, the boutiques here were a little out of my price range, so i didn't buy anything... but, i did get to go to the terrace, which had a great view of the opera and a bit of montmartre!

after shopping a little (i bought "jeggings" at h&m -- they are really in right now, and quite comfortable!), we headed to the tour bus which was going to take us to montmartre. we passed by pigalle or "pig alley" on the way there, and lemme tell ya -- i have never seen so many sex shops in my life. that was amusing! when we reached montmartre, we walked up through this narrow cobblestone road lined with souvenir shops -- the road was packed with tourists. the first sight of sacre coeur is really something, too. the church is so big! instead of riding up to sacre coeur, my french mom opted for the stairs. that was really good exercise and i was able to practice my balancing skills, because the steps are very uneven.

because we were technically still on the bus tour, sacre coeur was a little rushed. i would've loved staying there a little bit longer and taking in montmartre, but we had to eat a hurried lunch and run down to the bus, and i mean literally, run down to the bus. however, you can definitely tell that montmartre has a different ambiance than paris, and it was quite enjoyable for me to experience that! i'm really glad i got to see it!

after hustling down to the bus, we sat on the tour bus for about two and a half hours while it circled paris two times. i got to see all of the exteriors of museums and monuments, so i'm extremely fortunate! it was super tiring sitting there, but it was really enjoyable at the same time. the proper word would probably be 'surreal,' because i wasn't worried about taking so many pictures this time -- i was living in the moment and experiencing paris, mentally. i loved it! returning home was nice too, and i was able to stuff myself with good ol' bread and butter -- the classic french snack. my french mother invited people over for dinner again, so i spent sometime with the girls before heading to my room. today was quiet and thoughtful, but i think i needed that. it's so hard to believe that i'll be leaving wednesday! despite being terrible excited to see my family and be in my own home, i have a feeling that i'll miss france more than i imagined.

love you and miss you lots!
xoxo,
jyothi

paris, encore! // paris, again!

oh, paris. today we had another excursion to paris to see the louvre, arc de triomphe and shop on champs elysees. this means that i saw, with my own two eyes, a world-renown piece of artwork: the mona lisa (known as "la joconde" in france) as well as a world-renown sculpture, venus de milo. this might sound cliche and/or ridiculous, but i didn't feel anything when i saw them. the mona lisa was really small and once i took a picture of it, we moved on. i felt no need to look at the piece and bask in its glory. same with the venus de milo -- sure, i took a picture with it... but so did everyone else and it just made it hard to really comprehend how spectacular the sculpture actually was.

anyhow, i was able to see some really cool sculptures, but the type of art in the louvre didn't interest me all too much -- in fact, i took more pictures of the ceiling than the art pieces, i think... the louvre was still spectacular, don't get me wrong... but, i think i would prefer visiting the musee d'orsay. after the louvre, i ate lunch in the park and it was really hard to believe that i was literally sitting within walking distance from some of the world's greatest monuments and museums.

after the louvre, we took the metro to the arc de triomphe when we were under the arc, i realized how amazing being in france was. i hadn't really realized what an extraordinary opportunity it was, being able to see all of these places, until i looked up and saw how massive the arc de triomphe was. it was spectacular, utterly spectacular. climbing the stairs to the top wasn't half bad (the bad part was listening to certain classmates complain the entire way up...)! when we got to the top, i was blown away at the view. it was so cool looking down on the city -- i can't even describe the feeling, i feel like it's something you have to experience on your own.

anyhow, after that AMAZING experience, we headed to champs-elysees. it was so overwhelming looking at how long the avenue was! knowing that i wasn't about to purchase a chanel purse, louis vuitton luggage, miu miu jacket or gucci sunglasses, i decided that it would be most useful for me to walk on the side of the street with the more affordable clothing stores. i found this great store called 'zara' that had extremely chic clothing! there were so many adorable things there, that i couldn't make up my mind. it wasn't a cheap store, so i had to be smart with what i bought. i think i did well, though. i bought a very high fashion shirt with a high-waisted skirt -- the ensemble is very me.

after all of that walking, my feet hurt so bad. especially, my ankle. i came home tonight, super tired and just wanted to go to bed. but, the good news is that i haven't been very homesick! at this point, i'm just taking in as much of france as i can and living it up before i leave on wednesday. it's all about being positive!

miss you guys and love you lots!
xoxo,
jyothi

un jour a l'ecole. // a day at school.

the first part of today was super boring -- i went to school with camille and had to sit through all of her classes, which are in the same room. i sat in the back of the classroom and worked on my french journal and biology journal for 5 hours today (and luckily finished my biology homework!). that's ridiculous. however, i do have some interesting stories about the teachers. 1) they all address us as "americans," 2) the first thing they say is "ELLO, DO YOU SPEEK ZEE FRENCH?" and 3) upon learning that yes, in fact, we do speak french, continue to address us in english.

we were sitting in class, talking and giggling (quietly, don't worry) amongst our american selves, when a teacher bolted over to us and demanded that we do our work. all of us were baffled at her aggressiveness because we assumed that all of the teachers knew that there would be three american students in their classroom. apparently, she didn't, because all of the students began yelling "they're american! they're american!" she then asked us if we wanted to do some work, and we had no clue what she was talking about as she handed us a picture of a chair. all of us were under the impression that we were in history class, so when she went on to say, "DRAW ZEEEZ, OUI?" we were all utterly confused. i guess we were in art class...? the chair that i drew was a masterpiece, by the way.

the next run-in was with the latin teacher. she, again, came up out of nowhere and asked us if we knew latin. none of us know latin, so we shook our head, but she insisted that we take the exercise and try to translate latin phrases into french. she obviously didn't comprehend the fact that none of us knew latin...

anyhow, after school, we caught the bus and went back home. i sat in the kitchen with the girls and helped mathilde with her english homework. nothing interesting happened until dinner. dinner was very talkative today and the best part was, they were trying to talk in english! i feel like i have encouraged the entire family to be more confident in english. christophe asked me how i felt after living in france for a week and honestly, i couldn't compare it to my life in iowa. it's completely different. i wanted to say something really deep, because i had a lot to say about my realizations in france, but my french skills only allowed me to say that the food is different. pathetic, isn't it? oh, well. i spent the rest of the night being quizzed in french and english and laughing my head off as the girls tried to sing "head, shoulders, knees and toes," in english. their accents are pretty funny, not gonna lie.

tonight, i actually felt like part of the family. i have inside jokes about the bizarre english teacher and the girls are so much more open with me. plus, i heard manon talking about how she told her english teacher that i was here and about how much she liked me. it felt really good knowing that i can come away from this experience with not just a pen pal in france, but a lifelong friend.

love you guys and miss you lots!
xoxo,
jyothi

p.s. i used my curling iron and i didn't blow up anything. way to go, me.

je suis une handballeuse. // i am a handballer.

first off: CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT I'VE BEEN IN FRANCE FOR A WEEK? I CAN'T!

i think i stayed up until 2 or 3 am yesterday -- no clue, why. all i know is that i figured out how to use my hair straightner without blowing the house up! anyhow, i woke up very groggy, but i must have dreamt about what i was going to wear today because i woke up and was ready in record timing: 30 minutes. i was looking forward to going to school yesterday because i felt like all those french students would be more friendly since half of them added me on facebook, but it wasn't really like that. they still looked at us like we were aliens -- am i that american?!

french students get out early every wednesday so, we were out of school by 11:15 am today. the classes were extremely boring -- first, we had to sit through an hour presentation about how we should be safe on the internet (aka, why we shouldn't have facebook...) and then i had to sit through the worst math class i've ever seen. the teacher was an old man who couldn't hear anything and had absolutely no control over the class. he was trying to teach them algebra but assigned an exercise dealing with geometry -- i think it's time for him to retire.

after school, camille and i went to her friend emilie's house! joni is staying with emilie, so it was nice to have someone who spoke english with me for a large part of the day. because it was just camille and i that went to emilie's apartment, emilie insisted that since we were a small group, we should go take pictures in a photobooth. boy, did i look ridiculous in those pictures, and i mean completely ridiculous... but guess what? she said that she's going to show the pictures to everyone that tells her they are jealous of her for hosting an american (which is almost everyone at school...). lucky me, hmmm? anyhow, it was so much fun at her apartment. i actually ate today -- we had potatoes with melted cheese. it was super delicious. then, we talked about fashion the entire time and listened to lady gaga. plus, i got a free dress out it! emilie's parents are getting divorced, so she was throwing away clothes that she'd never worn but didn't want and putting stuff in boxes to take to her mom's new house. i got my hands on a sweater dress -- nice work, me.

now's what you've all been waiting for: today i played the sport of france: le handball. yes, i actually played with the "handballeuses" of enghien. i was super nervous when i got there -- they have a match on sunday and i knew that practice today was going to be intense. unfortunately, we got to practice 15 minutes late, so everyone had changed and camille and i had to walk onto the court and start playing an actual match right away. i had no clue what was going on! luckily, i'm a fast learner, so i picked up the jist of the game and decided that i might as well participate. i wasn't half bad - in fact, i even scored two goals! the rest of the time, i had absolutely no idea what was going on. the coach was yelling, the parents were yelling and the players were yelling in french of course, so i was a bit lost. actually, a lot lost.

on one occasion, i stole the ball in the air and ran to the other end and scored, but then immediately after i made a goal, i heard so much screaming and the phrase, "calm down, she's american!" was used. i turned around and there was a girl fingering people -- i was completely dumbfounded. i had no idea what i had done, but apparently (despite whatever error i had committed), i'm a future handball player -- some of the teammates and my french mom and sister complimented me on my playing! watch out, america. a "handballeuse" will be entering the country in a week! :)

overall, i was a bit flustered today compared to others because i was surrounded my lots of french people almost the entire day. but, it was good for me and i've realized that i shouldn't be homesick. my family here is really great -- i get along with all of them, and i'm starting to get closer with the girls. it's cool having sisters, although, i have realized that the cat fighting gets a bit old. i'm happy to say i'm glad that i have a brother (not that we don't have cat fights often -- ours are just different...). plus, i'm not upset that i have to come home after excursions anymore and i'm so much more appreciative of how fortunate i am. this trip is doing more than giving me an amazing insight to french culture and monuments/museums -- i'm learning about the importance of family. it's really good for me.

but, enough of my deep-talk. i can't leave you guys with mushy gushy realizations! since camille and i are on our laptops quite a bit, i made it a point to take a good picture of us so you can see what she looks like! we're both sporting uni t-shirts, too. also, i think i mentioned that my french mom is really into interior decorating...? if not, i've told you now and am even including a picture of the "salon" or living room, so you can see!

love you guys and miss you a ton!
xoxo,
jyothi