Yesterday I had another one of those LOL moments. I went into the kitchen to help my host mom prepare for the family to come over, and after setting the table (correctly!), I was instructed to peel the carrots. Hah. I don't know what I was thinking, but for some reason I thought I had to peel the entire carrot down to the center! I took the éplucher and started to peel the carrot. I got it all the way down to a little flimsy stick before my host mom noticed and started laughing at me. She reexplained to me that I only needed to peel the outside layer off and leave the rest. Ooops! Although she happened to have a recipe for my mistake carrot, so that worked well. I did manage to get it right after the second set of instructions, though.
After that, Pierre and I peeled and cut fruit for the fruit salad. I really suck at peeling fruit, too, but I managed to make it work. And the pieces were supposed to be bite size anyway! As we were finishing up, Simon (my older brother) and his wife, Claire, along with their kids, Lola and Marius, arrived. They were followed by Thomas and his family. Then finally, Annick and Grandma came a little while after them.
While my mom finished cooking the food in the kitchen, the rest of us gathered in the living room for refreshments and drinks. There was a big motorcycle race going on in the North on the beach, so we watched a little of that on TV as well. When the food was done and the little kids had eaten, all of us older people went out on the veranda for the first course. It consisted of 3 different things: a bowl of shredded carrots; a salad of tomatoes, eggs, and corn; and a mixture of different veggies in a sauce. I tried a little of everything (except the tomato), and it was all really good. The second course, aka the main course, came next. This one was made up of green beans and a casserole that consisted of mushrooms and some kind of meat. After that came the cheese course. There were four different kinds of cheese, and I tried three. One of them was Camembert(?), which was my favorite, and I don't remember any of the others' names. Sorry! The important one to remember is Camembert, though. I don't know if I'm spelling that right, but it's relatively close, I think. After the cheeses came the fruit salad Pierre and I made, and finally, my favorite part, the ice cream! There were seriously a million different things to chose from. It took me a while, but Annick finally convinced me into the chocolate pastachio ice cream bar. I think I discovered a new favorite flavor. If you ever get the chance (I don't know if they sell it in the States) TRY PASTACHIO ICE CREAM! C'est trèsss bonne!
Right as I finished my ice cream, Claire, Laure, and their mom arrived to take me to the theatre. They are a really friendly group of people. There wasn't much silence in the car or on the walk to the theatre or as we waited for the show to start. We talked the entire time, and during the show when I didn't understand something, either Laure or the mom would explain it to me between scenes. Because of that, I actually understood what was going on about 75% of the time. (That's pretty good.) At the beginning I was slightly lost, but by the end, I was honestly able to laugh at some of the jokes!
After the show, they took me home. Their mom talked to my mom, and I was invited over for lunch the following day. Once they had left, we ate dinner, and then I went upstairs to bed. My host mom was really tired from entertaining all day, and Pierre insisted that everyone go to bed, so I chilled in my room for a while and SMS (text) messaged a few people from school. Eventually, I got tired and went to bed.
This morning I got up, got ready, and then tried reading my book! That went decent... I guess... I underlined every word I didn't know in pencil, and it actually didn't seem like as much as I had thought it would be! I only got through a few pages, but hey! It's better than nothing! I can comprehend the sentences individually, but I can't put them together and make sense of what is going on. It's really frustrating. I'm hoping that gets better with time, but for now, it's driving me crazy.
About an hour or so into my book (and only like, 5 or 6 pages), Claire and Laure came over to get me. I walked with them to their house, where I spent the afternoon playing games like battle ship, guess who, wheel of fortune, taboo, checkers, and a couple others I don't know the names of. It was really fun! I had lunch over there, too. It was a rrrrrrrreally good noodle dish, with lasagna noodles (I think) rolled with meat inside of them, and they were in a tomato sauce with cheese and perhaps a veggie as well? I don't remember exactly. After that, I got cheese again. This time I tried all four kinds presented. One of them was Camambert again, and another one reminded me of something you might be able to find in the United States. There was one other reallyy strong one, and then the fourth one was made with goat's cheese. They were all pretty good, but I'd still put Camambert at number one on my list. I got another fruit salad today, and tried kiwi again for the first time since 2nd grade. I decided that it really is pretty good! I probably wouldn't go out of my way for it, but I would eat it again.
I recently got home, and soon I'll be eating again. This meal won't be too big, since it's just Pierre and I tonight. I think we're having pasta and something else. I'm not sure exactly. Before my host mom left, she also told me that Marion from school called, and I'm going with her to play laser tag next Tuesday. I'm assuming Sabrina, Laureen, and Virginie will be there as well. Probably someone else, too, so that the teams are equal.
Welllll, I think that's about it! J'écriverai encore demain!
A tout allure!
-Miranda
We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same. -Carlos Castaneda
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