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