Okay, quick post. I sort of hacked into my host mom's internet by finding the password on the back of the modem, but she likes to use the lowest amount of electricity possible and unplugs the cable/phone/internet when she goes to bed at 8:30pm. Therefore, I will write a quick post before I am disconnected from life.

I've realized some things about my 68-year-old host mom/grandmother (Marie-Louise) this week that make it easier to accept living here. I found out she has four sons, so I don't think she likes girls as much. She's also mean/stern, which you have to be when you have four boys.

My impressions of Marie-Louise's life were drastically improved last night when her son, wife, and three granddaughters came over for dinner. They were sooo funny, and I loved spending time with them. The thing about Marie-Louise is that she's incredibly French and doesn't know that much about American culture/living with girls. To her, everything in France is right so then politics/the economy/everything in America must be wrong. Her granddaughters (a girl who is 17 and twins who are 15) were a welcome relief because they actually appreciated having me around and asking me questions about my life. AKA they were fun and think it's cool to be American. Another thing that makes life a little more manageable is the pets...there is a dog named Norek (11-year-old husky) and a cat (Belle), who's a kitten and has an unimaginable amount of energy. I think the animals like me at least.

Whenever I'm spoken-harshly-to-in-French-I-can't-understand, I've gotten to the point that I can laugh it off. HAHAHA. And yes, I'm actually yelled at for things around here, even though I consider myself incredibly laid back and easy to get along with. For example, I have been "lectured to" for taking showers too late (at 7:40 pm), for using toilet paper to blow my nose, for turning my bedroom light on during the day, for watching television, for not taking my shoes off when I enter the living room, and for not liking canard (duck) mousse. Yet I eat amazing food each morning and night and live in Paris. Welcome to the life of an American girl in a French homestay :).