Bonjour!

Since my last post, I have been very busy! Two weekends ago, my family and I stayed on Ludmila's grandpa's boat for the three day weekend. It was so much fun! We went boating in the Mediterranean and had tons of fun in Meze and Sete.

Emma and cousin Cantine enjoying the boat!

I then had another week of school, and before I knew it, it was the weekend again! This past weekend, was my last AFS weekend. All the exchange students in Languedoc met up in Meze and we had a weekend full of games, cooking, talking, and more. I have grown soo close with the others and I truly am going to be so sad to leave them in Paris on July 8th. The five of us in Montpellier, Aron, Tonya, Macarana, Iveta, and myself, try to do things together as often as we can, but for the other 5, it is hard to see them. Regardless, I have grown extremely close to all my friends and I am honestly glad to have known them.

Gabriel (Colombia), Carmen (Honduras), and me

Us host students made a real French dinner for the 30 other kids who will be going on exchange this fall and summer. It was so much fun!

Sunday when I returned, we celebrated Mother's Day and Nathalie's birthday! I bought her a bouquet of flowers and went down to the festival of Corrida de Torros. There was bullfighting in an arena, but we didn't go the show. Instead we enjoyed Spanish churro's and watched little girls perform traditional Spanish dances. After that, we went to dinner in Palavas, and we had fresh Mediterranean seafood! Super good!!

On the topic of food, I have been learning how to cook! Nathalie and I made Ratatouille last week and at my AFS weekend we made curried chicken with a special bell pepper sauce. And of course a homemade chocolate and raspberry dessert!

This week is Lycee Joffre's first high school dance! It was even put together by my wonderful host sister, Ludmila. I plan on going and can't wait to see if it is anything like our dances in the States. Saturday night, is Nathalie's birthday party and we are all celebrating with a ton of friends over at the house! I finish school next Wednesday and then I am on summer! I don't have any summer plans yet, but I think I will be at the beach a lot, as well as finishing up some French shopping! I leave on July 3rd (less than a month!) to Paris with my friend, Mika, and we have an amazing itinerary planned out.

I can't believe how fast time has gone by, and I have to say that I am not ready to leave. I miss my family and my friends SO much, but five and a half months in such a diverse and beautiful country is simply not enough. This exchange has been the most amazing and rewarding thing I have ever done in my life and I can't believe how fast my time has gone by.

See you shortly!

And congratulations to Emily and Billy for their new baby girl!! :-) Can't wait to meet her!