Day 95: Pau, France

95 is really close to 100, and that is so weird to me.  Anyway, my favorite part of today was when I woke up and I am sick again.  It was awesome.  I also woke up at 10h 35, for my 11h class.  I didn't bother set an alarm because I never sleep past like 9h 30, and I went to sleep earlier than normal. 

Anyway, class was ok, even though I felt not so great.  I also got some free stuff.  This fell into the snack machine tray when I was buying some other snack.

If they're just gonna give stuff away, they should probably give it to somebody that needs it, like Greece.

Class in the afternoon, was good, and after, I went to Laura's room to book our hostel for Paris.  The other meeting participants never came, so I just went home, hostel-less.  When I got home, I booked my hostel, and practiced a lot.  I played what I normally do in a day, in one session.  It was great to be able to play so much.  Glad my endurance is improving.  I definitely didn't sound as good, but it is still progress.  I had split pea soup for dinner with my family, and now I'm going to finish my homework and sleep. 

Day 94: Pau, France

I wrote these words today, in a chat conversation with Laura:

ouais

mais

can i venir un peu early

i finis my course at 16h et half

 

I need help.

Today, I didn't go to class in the morning.  I had been up so late doing homework, I decided I'd just rather go to sleep for a while, since that's probably what I would have done class anyway.  I woke up around noon and took a shower and went to eat.  After lunch, I went to my afternoon class.  It was not so bad,  and I actually learned something.  Don't worry.  It was nothing useful.  We spent the last part of class discussing the way young people text in France.   People who don't speak French won't completely understand how this works, but it is pretty crazy.  

Texto: slt! tu va bi1? Ta PaC 1 bonn soiré?

French: Salut! Tu va bien? Tu a passé une bonne soirée?

Texto: Jariv dm1 TR1 2 6h, gar2 l'st, prend tax biz

French: J'arrive demain, train de 18h, gare de l'Est, prendrai taxi je t'embrasse

It is weird.

In other news:  This has been the weather for days:

This is what 45 degrees, rainy, windy, and cloudy looks like.

Day 93: Pau, France

Today was Monday.  Some people really hate Mondays.  I don't really mind them so much.  I spent a lot of my morning playing of the trumpet.  It went pretty well.  I am still sounding pretty terrible, overall, but I am finally starting to develop a little consistency.  I think it's a good start.  After lunch, I went to class, and it was good, but mostly uneventful.  We did get our results from the TCF Blanc. 

I am incredibly consistent.  Some people even call me Connie.  That is short for consistent. 

As you can see, I got a 3 in every section, and a total score of 3, out of 6.  The three sections are oral comprehension, grammar, and written comprehension.  I was really sick this day, so I am hoping when I am feeling a little better, and a little more focused, I can score a bit better.


In the evening, I did some trumpet, and then I worked on my homework for lit.  I had a really, really hard time staying focused last night.  I was pretty distracted.  And then, it turns out the assignment was really, really hard.  It was an analysis of a text by Didero.  It took me many hours to finish the homework.  I will later find out that when Rehana showed the assignment to Pauline, the French, graduate, law school student who works in the USAC office, she said that it was really, really hard, and couldn't help much.  I think that is too hard.   I will also find in class tomorrow, when we discuss the thesis of Didero, that all of the answers I wrote are incorrect. 

Day 92: Pau, France

Today was Sunday, and I did basically what I do every Sunday, which is nothing.  And it was awesome.  I woke up around 9h45 and hung out in bed for a bit.  Then I spent most of my morning practicing, and I forgot to eat breakfast. :/  For lunch, I just had some bread and cheese, some yogurt, and a banana.  It was good for holding me over to dinner.  I spent the rest of my afternoon playing, watching TEDTalks and listening to trumpet excerpts.  My trumpet playing went really, really well, again, today.  I really feel good about the 8 useable notes in my range.

We got a 'nother nice sunset tonight.  Sunset in French is "coucher de soliel" which literally means, sleep of the sun.

 In, I went to Pizza Cap with Laura and her three friends who were visiting from Italy.  They were nice and it was fun.  After dinner, we took them to Laura's room and Laura and I went to Angelas apartment.  They were watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and we figured we'd go hang out, having missed the movie.  However, when we got their, they were still eating their pizza, so we just hung out with them and chatted for a while.  We left when they started the movie because it was getting late.  It was a nice, relaxing Sunday, and I am sad that I only get one more in Pau.  Pretty hard to believe....

My amis being silly.

I was TRYING to take a vrai photo. 

EDIT:  I forgot to tell you all that my day sucked bc I burned my tongue on some stupid hot chocolate.

Day 91: Pau, France

Today was a very nice, relaxing Saturday.  I woke up around 9h45 and mostly just hung out all morning.  I practiced a lot, and had a really great day on the horn.  I made sounds that were not embarrassing, I double tongued, and I played louder than mezzo forte.  I think all of those one-armed pull ups are starting to pay off...

In the afternoon, I went into town and walked around.  I got lunch at the Casino, which is French for "national chain of small grocery stores".  I bought some bread, little cheese things, sardines, and a bottle of mineral water.  I have never eaten sardines before.  they were good.  I wonder if they taste the same in the US.  After, I went to H&M and bought a warmer scarf.  I also bought a present.  For some people.  But not at H&M. 

There was a really great sunset as I was walking home from town.

After I went home and played a little more, in the evening, I met up with Angela and we went to Chez Maman for crepes.  We ended up sitting at the table text to Laura and her friends from Italy.  When they got up and left, the next people who sat there were Rehana, Lauris, and Becca.  We all like Chez Maman.  We stayed and talked with them for a long time and had a really nice evening. 

Day 90: Pau, France

I had a really hard time getting out of bed today.  It was very cold and rainy and dreary.  I just really didn't want to go to class.  But I did.  Class today was fine.  We are doing lots of stuff that involve reading comprehension.  I bet when we get our TCF results back on Monday, that will be where most of the class struggled.  In the afternoon, I had to give an "exposé" on the place in which I live in.  (Exposé is French for exposé)  I did mine on Dallas.  Because that is where I live.  It was a really great presentation.  Really.  

After class, I was exhausted, so I came home and relaxed, practiced, and watched TEDTalk videos.  I was going to go out, but we ate dinner here pretty late, so by the time we finished, I just wasn't interested anymore.  Plus, it is cold.  I wasn't about to go outside. 

Day 89: Pau, France

I had a pretty good day today. I woke up in the morning and practiced a little and took a shower. Class today was fine. Nothing exciting, though.  I did have one of the best lunches of the semester.  It was sausage, lentils, carrots, and green beans, bread and yogurt.  The lentils were fantastic.

Sausage, lentils, carrots, and green beans, bread and yogurt.

After class ended, I went home and practicied for a while.  I am definitely getting better.  I hqve actually had a few moments where I have just played, and everything works correctly.  For dinner, I got pizza and ate in Laura's room.  Then, I met up with a large group of people, and we had a small party in the kitchen area of Angela's dorm.  Probably, it wasn't that small.  There were like 20 of us;  It WAS a really small room, though, so it counts. We had cider, mulled wine, hot chocolate, regular wine, whiskey, and I got a pack of 6 different types of beer from Brittany.  They were all very good.  I guess since they can't really make wine there, they just grow beer plants instead... It was a really fun night.  Good times...

Here is everybody at the party.