Lots of Info: Part 1

I have lots of info to share so I'm breaking it down into more manageable pieces. Part 1 will focus on life here in france in general, as well as my day to day existence.

Basic observation: french people own lots of mirrors, but I don't think they use them. Seriously I swear some of them don't look at what they're wearing before they put it on. Very funny and occasionally disturbing. Park = people running = really short jogging shorts and waaaay to much thigh. Think 1980s basketball shorts.

Parks are awesome by the way. They're everyway here. I walk through two to get to school everyday and there are always a ton of joggers as well as these little old ladies walking their dogs. The dogs by the way have learned to recognize a college student. They will literally sit down when they see you coming and refuse to move until you have petted them in passing, which of course we all do.

Food here is amazing. I have breakfast (bread and butter and orange juice) and dinner at the house and lunch at the institut. The institut has two cafeterias but when they say cafeteria they mean a room with a vending machine. So we (everyone) just goes to one of the hundreds of little cafes/boulangeries in the area. A boulangerie is like a sandwich shop more or less and I LOVE them. Today for example I had a Sandwich Chevre which is goat cheese (it's a specialty of the area and very good) and some lettuce on french bread. Costs like 2 or 3 euros and is like a foot long. Delicious.

At first I was mildly concerned about my host mom (that's what we call them, host moms, host dads, etc) and her idea of dinner. The first night she literally served me a small salad (just lettuce), a piece of bread, and water. I went to bed starving and confused. It has greatly improved though. Funny thing: I get the impression that she seems to think that we don't have vegetables in Georgia. A couple days ago she made this carrot salad thing and proceeded to explain to me what a carrot is. She did the same with this broccoli dish. I think she was mildly disappointed that I both knew what they were and ate them regularly. Yesteday we had radishes as our precourse and she was all happy to find out that I had not eaten them before, despite the fact that they are fairly readily available in Georgia. I lied and said I liked them. Our main dish last night was mussels (les mouilles?) and they were sooooo good. I think we were both glad to find out that we're both seafood eaters.

Funny comment my host mom made: I mentioned that I love french food and she was all like oh yes french food is so good and light, not heavy like american food. I nodded along because this very true, and she proceeded to say "that's why you're all obese". hahahahahaha

I do walk to and from school everyday and it does take me a full 20 to 25 minutes to do so, but it's not so bad. It's a good time to just chill and listen to my ipod. Plus a good long walk like that is my way of justifying dessert (omg sooo good).

Another random observation about france: it is Incredibly dry here. Like really really dry. My lips are so chapped (is that really how you spell that?) and and my hair is like hay right now. Such a change from the humid south.

That's pretty much it. Please continue on for parts 2 and 3.