Suppose I have some new news to share with you.
I ended my 2 week break last week with a bike ride (2 hours this time, she's killing me) on the island 'isle de rei' which I had visited when I first arrived. The weather was much nicer this time around and I got to see so much more. Leila, the daughter living in Paris, arrived Thursday and stayed for the weekend. Thursday afternoon we all had lunch at my host mother's parents home. It was a very nice home, very updated & well kept. My host mother did grow up in this house, & is within walking distance from our home. Thursday was also 'International Women's day'. I honestly never heard of it until I came here - the US should celebrate that a little better...
The kids went to their father's for the weekend. Saturday we didn't do much & Sunday we went for a nice walk along the beach.
My mother left Monday morning for the week for work, and returns Saturday morning. This is the longest she's been gone since I've been here & this is the week I needed her the most. The kids come to the house everyday after school & go to their fathers around dinner time for the night, when she goes away. I woke up Monday and decided to go into the city for a few hours - it was beautiful & I wasn't sitting at home - of course I had Monday off of school. I left the city shortly after lunch time not feeling well. Ines came home from school, & Moussa (who speaks NO english) shortly after from work - I took some medicine, but didn't do anything, but possibly made me feel worse. I'd say it was the flu, as it's going around here - so they say. I wouldn't have gotten the full expereince if it didn't happen. (Case 1 I needed my mother) Unfortunately I missed Tuesday class, but I didn't miss anything, of course.
Wednesday I was back in swing. This course is being taught by a professor from England and is a lot more enjoyable than my previous class - though I have to stay here at school until 9:45 p.m. tonight (!) & have 2 Saturday's in April of it. Crazy. Moussa will come pick me up from school tonight. (Case 2 I need my mother) Last night, Thursday, I had a very nice evening with the assistant dean of the college of business at Shippensburg. He arrived late Tuesday evening with his wife, visited the school Wednesday & met with 'important' people & met me last night. Unfortunately they didn't spend much time in this beautiful city as they visited Poland & Prague before coming here, & currently are on their way home. It was one of the best nights I've had here, my first beer I've had here (no wonder it was a good night) & it was with my dean; hm. I'm not to worry about credits transferring, it will happen. He realized how unorgnized this school is & understood my problems a lot better. He said though I'm not getting the best education, it's all about the experience I'm having - which is true. I've learned so much since I'm here - about myself, other cultures, how to deal with change, the list could go on. I called my mother once we ended dinner & she called Moussa to come pick me up - which is what she told me to do, I had planned on either walking or calling a taxi. (Case 3 I needed her)
Tomorrow evening I'm taking an overnight train to Nice (in the French Riviera) until Tuesday evening with another overnight train and arriving home Wednesday morning. 'Class' for a few days then off to London for 5 days - then it's April - my final month here!
I forgot to mention - we did NOT change our clocks here yet. I asked my mother about it Saturday night, & she looked at me funny. Europe changes their clocks the last Sunday of March, while the US changes the 2nd Sunday of March. And Europe 'falls behind' a week or 2 before the US, as we do it the first Sunday of November. Did you know that Arizona is always on Standard time? (I did a little research about Daylight Savings when I learned we didn't change yet. Thought I should learn something while I'm here)
Hopefully I gave you a good read this time. Have a good weekend & I will update after my trip to Nice!
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