“To the left, to the left…”

I’m trying to write this blog while listening to Irreplaceable by Beyoncé, but it’s not working very well, because I just have this constant urge to dance, but can’t because my host dad’s in the next room, and then by the time I settle down and look at my Microsoft Word screen the song is done and I am forced to start it again.

I am currently in the process of preemptively packing all of my things because of my host brother’s arrival from Brazil on Thursday. I don’t really like packing. I have way too many books.

These blogs should really get written more often, because after a certain point I don’t feel like doing them because so much has happened and I tell myself it will be too hard to explain it all. This is one of those times. But here I am. Typing away.

Two Saturdays ago (the 12th), my school had this ‘oversized gathering’ (aka party) with another school at a club here in Paris. A couple exchange student friends came with me, which saved me as I would have been forced to dance to techno all night with my French friends. But as any good American is trained to dance to rap because of high school dances, we had fun dancing how we wanted. We are exchange students, so we do what we want anyways. It was extremely hot and I perspired copiously. But, you’ll be pleased to know I cut my hair yesterday for the first time since December, so if it so happens that you are dancing near me in the near future, I will be sweating much less. Our night was filled with much more than sweat. It also included fun, confrontation with French people who didn’t like my enthusiastic dancing during 50 Cent, falling asleep in the grass next to an old church while waiting for the Metro to open, and many laughs.

As I got home around 6 in the morning, I slept as much as possible on Sunday (which means until 1 o clock, when my host dad called me for lunch). My friend Elizabeth (exchange student from Cali who was on my EuroTour) was in town with some other exchange students, as she was leaving a few days after for the states. We hung out in a park and then got kicked out because of a severe weather warning, although the sky was perfectly blue and it was sunny out. Go figure.

That night I had an amazing Table Group at Justin’s house. Justin, Taro, Jean (his name is really spelt NDJsomethinsomethin, but I’m not going to even attempt it, although I just did) and I had a great time picking apart 1 John and throwing ideas off each other. Taro brought some German sausages and German beer, which we consumed with pleasure. All a night really needs is some 1 John, German gastronomy, and community.

Thursday was a holiday (although I’m not sure which one, all I know is that I got out of school, which is all I really need to know). Signe (exchange student from Iowa in northern France) was here with some other exchange students (including my friend Lorca from N.Carolina). We sat talking near the Eiffel tower for a while, then did the European thing and got Kebab for lunch, all the while meeting another exchange student Sarah (in my district, from S. Carolina) in the process. We then walked around Montmartre. Sarah left, Signe and I got cheap pints, and then I went home and ate. Successful day.

My good friend Andrew from church was on vacation in China until Thursday, and I hadn’t seen him since Easter, so it was high time Friday night for a reunion. We went to a bar with some of his fellow Fulbright scholar friends, then made an intensely late (but delicious) dinner for one of his friends and her boyfriend who had just arrived that night from Ecuador.

I thought I was saved from waking up early on Saturdays as I finished with my sport class last week, but Saturday morning started at a solid 7:30 in order to meet Andrew and Paul at 8:30 to pick up our bikes for our excursion into the forest. We had been talking about doing something with just us guys for a while, so it felt relieving Saturday as Andrew, Paul, Taro and I got on the train to Fontainebleu (château outside of Paris) to spend a day riding bikes through the forest and enjoying each others’ company. The whole biking aspect turned out to be a bit more difficult as expected, as fold-up city bikes with tiny tires and wheels aren’t exactly designed to perform on forest trails made for mountain bikes. Our optimistic expectations for finishing the 5 hour loop in 4 quickly turned into constant comments on my part concerning how imperative it was we stop for food, and constant ‘let’s just find this spot’ by our German-Japanese tracker, Taro. We stopped for the long awaited picnic in a boulder field, and just spent time talking, watching lizards, and trying to take group photos. Riding through the forest made me realize how much I miss the outdoors. Sometimes in Paris I just feel so cooped up and claustrophobic because of all the gray buildings that seem to constantly encircle me. It’s really good to get out and smell the roses every once in a while, even though we didn’t see any roses.

(Almost done). Sunday we had a church wide lunch. I discovered that Leffe Brune is infinitely better than Leffe Blonde. I also realized that I’m going to miss the beautiful people at my church more than I know. (beautiful as in, their hearts, not as in ‘I’m only going to miss the good looking people at my church). We also make good food as a church (well, not me…they), which I will equally (not really equally) miss.

I’ve lost all motivation in school. It feels good.

Brent

27 days