The streets of France

Today it is snowing in France. Though I thought I escaped winter, it followed us here. However I did escape the -50 degrees in Moorhead, Minnesota!! Haha yeah :)

Yesterday was the first day that all 7 Cobbers were together in France. We had a meeting with our university to discuss classes and get a tour of Tours, which was cold. Very cold. We all froze and it took hours after we got back to the house to thaw out, so we all went to the 3rd story where it's the warmest and spent the afternoon in Valeria and Hallie's room. That night after some amazing Ratatouille, we decided to hit the town. All 7 of us bundled up and went to a pub about 15 mintues from our house. We were only there for a few minutes before we went to another place downtown which was much more lively and full of French students our age. It was a great bonding experience for all of us, to get out and do something together.

This morning I woke up to Jacqueline, our host mother, coming into my room and saying something in French. I was too tired to understand and all Mamie, my roommate, said was "It's too early..." Then I realized that Jacqueline was saying 'valise' which means 'suitcase'. I jumped out of bed and ran town the death trap stairs to the front door. By the time I opened it there was no one there. So I went back to bed but I was too worried about it to sleep. What if I missed them? Would they destroy my suitcase? So instead I got up and called the airport and left a message. Then the doorbell rang again and I went running down the stairs in my socks a second time to the window to make sure the person at the door wasn't shady and wouldn't kidnapp me. I saw a delivery truck so I ran to the door and slid into the stairs in the process. I opened the door and it was a box for Joel...not my suitcase. So I politely signed for it then marched back upstairs and went back to bed for 3 hours.

At 12:30 our sleepy group got up for a brunch Jacqueline had prepared for us. We had croque-monsieur which is a ham sandwich with cheese and a pineapple on top. After that we helped clean the kitchen and we went upstairs to create a Facebook group for our study abroad experience in Tours, where we have all our funny quotes, pictures, and some other inside jokes.
And though it was snowing we decided to brave the cold and walk downtown to get some necessities and some food. The town was picturesque with the snow, the old streets, and French people speaking their beautiful language. We tried to get cellphones but the store was too busy to we opted for Monday instead. Which is also, hopefully, when my suitcase will come...so pray for that!

Things are great here. We're about to have dinner with the family so I'm going to take a quick nap before hand. Hugs and kisses everyone!

Sierra