ecoutez,s'il vous plait!<333

everyone and anyone,


i am asking, please to send me money for christmas!
give it to my mum or dad pleaseeeee, im begging you.

im a poor foreign exchange student that's
freezing in this bitter cold winter in france
and i need to buy a super warm coat,gloves,boots,
socks,sweaters,etc because i keep on getting sick
because im so cold.

it really would be much appreciated.
christmas is going to be really weird
this year.. i feel like it doesnt even
exist over here.



bisous, love you all<333


christina




PS-
mum, try emailing me sometime-
it would make me feel a lot better.

crisp air

Last week was a 2 day week of school. The week before that there was also no class. Why, I have no idea. But of
course for anyone the idea of not having to sit through hours listening to quickly spoken french is amazing. For
the vacation the first Saturday afternoon I went to sleep over a girl's house (with a couple other girls). My first
French sleepover, with people I didn't know. Genius..not. Those girls were nice, but they weren't for me. We sat
and gossiped about people all night, and then proceeded to eat dinner with her family and later on watched.. Disney
movies? Needless to say, I felt like I was 4years old again, at a 'slumber-party' with my cousins. And they documented
it. With horrible pictures of me. On the internet. On Facebook. I definitely un-tagged myself out of the pictures
trying to erase my memory of a dreadfully boring night. Once again, Claudine planned something for me. A trip to the
Pyrenees; which are the French/Spanish mountains with a Rotary family, me only knowing the dad a bit from the weekly
Wednesday night meetings. Monday morning I arrive downstairs dreading the trip. Claudine told me it would be freezing,
it would be snowing, and Nicolas(the dad) told me there was limited space in the car and to bring a tiny tiny suitcase
motioning with his hands the size of my purse(which can pass as a suitcase, I know). Somehow I managed to pack 3/4's
of my clothes into my carry-on. Good thing for me, because when I arrive back home I know I'll have 50% more things
than what I came with. Anyways I go downstairs to meet Nicolas and his family. His wife's name is Isabelle(Iza), and
they have 2 kids- Emma;7 and Jean;4. They were really nice.. but I still didn't know how I felt about them. The journey
was 9 hours long from the North of France, to the very South. Great, eh? The 2nd largest country in Europe takes 9
hours to get from one end to the other.Gotta love Europe. After the car ride and many rest-stops, I had a lot of bonding
time. Iza and I looked at all the Tabloid magazines at the rest stops and shared our love for Coca Light (Diet Coke).
Emma, Jean, and I shared gum and my chocolat noir(dark chocolate) that Claudine packed for me. I found, that we all
got along just fine. Jean slept on me, and I watched Casper about 10 times in a row.
We arrived eventually,In our destination spot- Madiran. This is where Nicolas' grandmothers house is. And Grammie,
great house! Great size, very comfy. I got the honor to sleep in the grandmother's old part of the house. Half was
new/half old. And it definitely smelled like that typical scent you smell on all grandparents.. but it was gorgeous
nonetheless. they felt bad putting me in the old part to sleep.. but secretly- I loved looking at the antiques and
I loved the decor.And outside of the house it was complete serenity. No noise but the occasional sound of a cow bell
ringing from the pasture in the front. In the mornings I would wake up, look out my window and see a couple deer.
Then I'd take a coffee and sit outside and you could see the mountains clearly. It was a sight I'll never forget.
Emma,Jean,Iza,and 'Nico' were my new family. I loved them to death. Madiran is known for its wine and Nicolas and I
would go to the Chateau every day to go wine-tasting and grab a couple bottles for the night. This happened more
often when Nicolas' cousin arrived with his wife and 2 kids. The 2 boys, Benjamin and Alexandre, were twins and 8 years
old. As you can imagine, I was swarmed with questions from the little ones all the time, but they were so cute that
I didn't mind a bit. They were so sweet to me and drew me tons of pictures. But as of now, the house was swarming
with noise. All the time something was going on, but I loved it. The chaotic life compared to my dull life in the
house with 2 older personnes. These nights were spent drinking a lot of wine in front of the fireplace and talking.
Iza,"I remember last year I drank too much wine and I was so embarrassingly drunk!" Two minutes later: Iza,"Christina
I'm drunk, I'm really really sorry." It was a great vacation, and much needed. I wish I could throw all my experiences
on this blank slate, but I know its not that interesting and my attention span can't even hold it. Let's just say,
I wish I lived with them. Iza and Nico and Emma and Jean. But in place of not living with them, I MAY be going to
Brighton,England for a weekend with them.. and also Paris for a weekend. That would be heaven. Bisous, Christina.