I woke up and Madame was complaining about how the weather wasn’t
good so she wasn’t sure that she could do laundry. Today she was going to wash
the Laurence’s sofa covers using both the upstairs and downstairs machines. The
weather was sort of putting a damper on those plans… I ate breakfast and then
went and finished getting ready for going to the Oppidum. I brought my laptop
so that I could make my photo videos on the nicer internet and upload the new
photos that I took. I added the Saint Tropez photo reel to the Saint Tropez
post but I put it here too if you haven’t seen pictures yet. I put my laptop in
my locker during the trip so as not to make my back feel worse. (Mom I can’t find
a heating pad here… Is it possible to send one? They aren’t heavy? Maybe the
gummy vitamins I like? You could just put them in a bag and call them candy for
customs. Text me!)
The Oppidum was pretty cool. Once we got there… We met in front
of the cathedral and then walked to the bus stop which was all fine. But once
we got off the bus we had another mile to walk uphill…. For me that isn’t so
good. Not because I can’t walk around fine. But to try and keep pace with
others especially on hills is complicated… My vocal cords make it so that even
if I keep them in check to not cause an attack I am not getting enough oxygen
to my muscles and then they start to tense up. But to breathe heavier or faster
will initiate an attack which really would be worse. I started at the front of
the pack on the walk up but ended in the back just because I couldn’t keep up
with the pace. And I know I should have like said something or whatever but I don’t
like to make a big deal of it… But it really isn’t a good feeling when you are
20 years old and can’t walk up a hill without having such difficulty. It makes
me sad. I don’t like that I can’t be like everyone else. There is a trip to
hike up the Mont Sainte Victoire this weekend but this just showed me that
really I shouldn’t go. I would feel bad for letting everyone else down for
being slow and it would be me pushing myself the whole way and that just doesn’t
seem good… I dunno. I try not to think about the whole vocal cord thing all the
time but it really does limit what I can do, and that really is sad.
The Oppidum was pretty cool just in the fact that it existed
in 175 BC. You can walk around and still find fragments of the ceramics that
they used and see where the different buildings were. It was pretty cool to
walk around and listen to someone who knows history tell you about it. I was in
the midst of feeling bad about myself for the trip up to the site when I got
stung by some sort of black bug. It hurt like an initial bee sting and for the
next ten minutes but then it was fine. It is a bit scary though to think about
being stung by a bug you don’t recognize and not knowing if it is poisonous or
something. But the sting kinda just made a sad mood more miserable. But I
snapped out of it on the way back down. There were some cool things at the
Oppidum and it was interesting to see the like fireplaces, engraved heads, engraved
snake, view from the top, the rock tools they used to make wine and olive oil,
as well crush grains and also the slope that enemies would have to climb to
attack the village.
After we walked around the village we went back down and
caught the bus back to town. Once there I went in search of something to eat
for lunch so that I wouldn’t have to go out again. I found this Chinese place
that had chicken and rice that was pretty good. I took it back to the school
and then looked for a hotel in Lyon that wasn’t so expensive. I found one for
125 Euros which includes breakfast. Much better than the 400 that I had found
before! It is a little ways out from the city center but I think that we can
get to a train that goes into the main part of town and that isn’t as far or we
can take taxis or something. But with the money we are saving it will be worth
it. We will figure it out but I am glad that I found something!
After I did that I went and downstairs to eat in the cave
and do my photo/video stuff on my laptop. Lunch was good but after about 10 bites
in I realized that I really was NOT hungry. I pawned off the rest on someone. The
chicken was like TOO flavorful I think and I didn’t recognize the flavor. It
was good but just too rich for me. Now I know! After a while I started to feel
like in the way and went home to change into a less hot shirt. It was starting
to get nice again I noticed as I went home and sure enough Madame had started
laundry but was watching the sky closely because there were still clouds. She
ended up drying my laundry inside on a drying rack.
I did started to do my French homework and then got stuck.
We were to use a bunch of verbs that pretty much all mean the same thing but
have little nuances and were suppose to place them in this like storyline
thing. I did as much as I could and then Madame offered to help me. It made a
lot more sense when she explained it. She is very helpful. After that I
finished my literature reading for tomorrow We read Tolsostoys The Devil. After
that it was time for me to go to the bank so that I could pull out money to pay
George for the trip this weekend. After that I went and broke a ten at crepe a
gogo (Lemon and Sugar) so that I would have an even 5 to give. I went to the
building where we usually pay him and there was a sign saying he was in the new
building. So I went to the old building to check my mail. My package had come!
I was very excited and had to run back to the building that George was supposed
to be in to get it. I was very happy! Then I went and payed George for the
trip. I am pretty excited about it. We are going to Riez which is a smaller
town to get things for lunch and then going to the Gorge de Verdon and Lac de
Sainte Croix for some lake fun and it is supposedly the most beautiful place
ever, and then going to Sainte-Marie which is named the most beautiful city in
France. I am very excited! And I get to knock another place off of my postcard!
I went upstairs to kill time waiting for my class so I
opened my package. I got a bunch of stuff to give to Madame and Laurence and
mostly for Paul and then some useful stuff for me from my mom. Included were
some candys that I assume I was supposed to share. Oooops I ate them! J After that I was faced
with the dillemna of how to put all the stuff back in the box… Nice packing
mom! I ended up using the already used tape to reseal the box. It looked like a
mess but it worked good. I had my class which was fun but it is always
difficult to hear in that room because it was bad acoustics but it is even
worse for me with a bum ear so I had to ask her to repeat a lot.
After that I cam home and dropped off all my stuff and then
headed down to give gifts. Paul really liked his cards and told me that he isn’t
going to trade them. He also liked the pencil. Madame was very happy with her
scarf and said thank you at least 3 times and then told me to tell my mother
thank you as well. Check. I also gave her the Oregon Quarter and she thought
that was pretty cool. Paul had me try a Tete Brule which is a Head on fire
which is just like a sucker candy that is sour at first for like 10 seconds.
The one he gave me wasn’t too sour and it was actually a pretty good candy. I
watched tv while Madame gave Paul a shower and then we went upstairs. Paul
played minions and fruit ninja and Madame made dinner. After he got bored of
the Ipod we played with the balloon. Paul asked me why I had a fat stomach… I
felt kinda sad but I took it with a grain of salt because people here are tiny
and I know he didn’t mean it in a bad way. We had pasta with broccoli and ham
for dinner. It was pretty simple but I enjoy simple. Bread with cheese and then melon for dessert.
I learned that Paul really is VERY picky and doesn’t even like dessert! WHAT!?
After that I went and Skyped Thad. Today marks four months
that we have been together which isn’t really that long but you have to start
somewhere and we have the luxury of starting with 6 years of solid friendship
on top of that.
Tomorrow I predict a pretty easy day of school and I am glad
that I can sleep in a bit. I think Friday I may try and find the bigger grocery
store that is a bit outside of town and take the bus. It could be a fun
adventure!
Bon Journée! Bon
nuit! A demain!
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