Thanks Mom and Dad!!!
Sorry for getting a tad behind on my blog. I had a very exciting weekend that revolved around food, and I was going to write all about it yesterday, but believe it or not, I was actually busy! Between finally filling out my first batch of postcards, trying to plan my first Thanksgiving Dinner (sure to be a disaster), attempting college application essays with my failing English, and sending in forms for visa appointments and bus trips, I barely had any time to watch Desperate Housewives before I fell asleep. I have a feeling today is going to be just as busy with a Rotary dinner, a promise I'd help Charlotte with her English homework, and about a million errands to run. I don't even want to think about how hectic tomorrow is going to be, considering I actually have to start making Thanksgiving Dinner. Anyway, all these are reasons why writing my entry today during history class.
Friday was, by far, my most exciting day in France. Everything was going on as normal until 3:30 when I came home from school and found out I had a parcel waiting for me! Yay for parcels!!! Anne drove me to the post office where I picked up the heavy, densely-packed box from my wonderful parents all the way in Norwich, NY. Words couldn't describe how happy I was. (If you saw the tear forming in the corner of my eye you would understand.) I looked like a 5-year old on Christmas clinging to my parcel, and I was unbelievably anxious to get home and open it. You can imagine my distress when Anne suddenly decided she had to run all these errands before going home. After an hour of four different stops, me waiting in the car (imagine stationary road rage), and getting stuck behind a student driver who couldn't start his car up again at the stop sign, I finally got home and ripped open my package. The picture above explains my euphoria better than any words I could have use instead. Sadly, the Nutter Butters were all gone within the first few hours, but I've still got most of the food waiting for me at home. That's one thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: If the turkey fails, at least I've got Reese's.
Although the rest of the weekend was slightly less exciting than Friday afternoon, it was still lots of fun and therefore worth writing about. Friday night involved a dinner party at a family friend's house where we had pepper / mozzarella / olive shooters, curried chicken, and lemon meringue pie. The food was really good, but I was glad when the night ended because French dinner parties last forever. As soon as the wine is served, you know you've got about another six hours to go.
On Saturday morning, I went to an art exhibition by a Brazilian artist, Dalva Duarte, with the same Rotary family who took me to Lyon the month before. The exhibition was in an old factory that had been renovated and was now also the artist and her husband's home. Her husband was from New York, and we had a nice long chat about all sorts of things. After the exhibition, we got a tour of their home / mansion. Did I mention they were multi-kajillionaires? They had 2 Steinway's (even though neither of them played) and their own movie theater. I felt like I was on an episode of MTV's Cribs! Luckily, I got the husband's card and was told to come back and play the piano(s) whenever I wanted.
Sunday was a slow day and I was finally able to catch up on some sleep. I spent the afternoon making popcorn, watching Star Trek, and talking to my family on Skype, so it was an overall successful day. I'm sad that I won't be home for Thanksgiving this year, even though I had the date wrong and thought it was the 27th. I knew something was fishy when I started explaining "Black Friday" as the day after Thanksgiving to my host parents, but believe it or not, I didn't fully catch on until I spoke to my parents on Skype. I used to think I was really smart, but lately, I'm starting to think that I'm losing my mind. Today it dawned on me that I forgot how to do antiderivatives, so I got really depressed. To make myself feel better, I took the derivative of 10x10 + 9x9 + 8x8 + 7x7 + 6x6 + 5x5 + 4x 4 + 3x3 + 2x2 + 1x1 ten different times without using a calculator. If you don't believe me, look at the picture.
Since the bell is just about to ring, I'm gonna get going. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back at home. Enjoy the turkey; I'll be thinking of you all!
Glad you were so happy to receive the package but be truthful, there was more than candy/food. We will miss you at Thanksgiving but you seem to be enjoying many culinary wonders. Good luck with Thanksgiving dinner. You should make a flip video of the process, it would go viral on the internet for sure. Happy Thanksgiving sweetie!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat could possibly go wrong with you cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner for your family...? You better have a package or two of Ramen prepared just for back-up.
ReplyDeleteWe will miss you very much at our big family dinner on Thanksgiving and our small family dinner on Friday, but I will never forget to daily give thanks for having such a great daughter (make that two)!
I like the image of you clinging to a parcel :) I also like that you use the word "parcel."
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm worried about you taking derivatives for fun. Perhaps it is the stress of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner? Perhaps you have run out of lists to make? Perhaps you just really like the graph paper they use in Europe? (I know that's why I did math equations for fun while in Spain...)