Candy From Strangers

Most things from strangers are discouraged. Candy, rides, talking etcetera, growing up those warnings are repeated time and time again.

I thought of a million things today that I should put into my blog but now that I've sat down to write it's all coming a little bit slower. I think the biggest news of my day was my impromptu hitch hiking I did this morning. I have never hitch hiked before in my life. My mom's voice is always echoing in my head telling me how dangerous it is and to never accept a ride from a stranger.

So this morning I woke up early got ready for school, said goodbye to my host-grandparents and walked down to the bus stop. I mailed a bunch of post cards and sat at the bus stop filling out an envelope. As I stood up to check the time the bus was coming a car pulled up in front of the bus stop and rolled down its window. I immediately thought that they needed directions so I walked over to the window. Of course I wouldn't have been able to give directions but I didn't want to be rude.

The woman in the car was older...maybe in her 50's and she asked me if I was going in the direction of La Tronche or Ile Verte and I said yes and all of the sudden she started moving her purse to the side. I don't know if I had a conscious thought process to making the decision but all of the sudden I was in her car buckling myself in. As soon as the door shut (it was an automatic door) I started panicking thinking "What the hell am I doing in this car?"

It all turned out alright. I'm still undecided if she was just a good samaritan or just lonely, maybe a little bit of both. We chatted while she drove me to the tram stop at Ile Verte.

She lives in Meylan just like I do and commutes every day to Grenoble for work. She has four children who are grown and live away from home. Two of them live in Paris, one lives outside of Paris and the fourth lives in Marseilles. She is originally from the Atlantic coast part of France where it is cooler. She doesn't enjoy hot weather and told me all about Grenoble's summer tendencies. She doesn't much family left there so she hardly ever goes back. She's been living in Grenoble for 30 years now. She's been to the US once. She flew into Salt Lake City, of all places, and did a drive up to Canada and back down through California and back to Salt Lake City. It sounds like she had a really good time and enjoyed herself. She is also planning a trip to Iceland in the next year.

She was a really friendly lady and she had a lot of interesting things to say. I have to say as far as my first, albeit accidental, hitch hiking experience went, it was good. I don't think I am feeling too hasty to accept rides from future strangers but it has definitely altered my perception of the whole idea.

Ma Famille D'Accueil

So my last blog was a bit of a shout-out to my family at home. This time I am in full appreciation of my host family. This weekend has been great here at Chez Debillon. I suppose a quick run down of the family members wouldn't hurt.

Mme Debillon (Isobel) - the mother of my host family she is a part time nurse and all around superwoman...she gets so much done in a day its unbelievable

M Debillon (Thierry) - the dad of my host family, he is a full time doctor at the hospital 15 minutes from the house. He works a lot, likes to drink whiskey and eat cheese. He also does an absolutely dead-on impression of Chanel (the family's dog).

Marion - the eldest of the Debillon children she is my age and currently doing an internship in Lyon. She speaks English really well and I really get along with her.

Pierre-Antoine - By far the most mysterious of the 4 kids. He goes to school in Bordeaux and has only been home for two weekends since I've lived here. He is I think around 20 ish and he has the whole "I'm so cool I pop the collars of my polo t shirts" thing going on for him.

Emmanuelle - She is 17 years old and I share the 3rd floor with her. Whenever she does impressions of people she lisps. It is hilarious! She likes to do theatre, she recently fell off her bike, and I am pretty sure she is in a pseudo-relationship with Charles-Eric, the host-brother of my friend Elaine.

Sophie - The youngest Debillon is 16 years old and currently having a bit of a tough time with her highschool math course. She is the fastest eater I have ever met and could probably do some serious damage if she entered a competition.

Chanel - last but not least the lovable golden retriever...named for...yes you guessed it. Coco Chanel. She is really a happy dog but was recently diagnosed as being fat by the vet. Poor thing is on a diet now and as my host mom says "Son regime, c'est tres dur, elle est toujours faim!"

Right now we have a petit addendum to the family in the form of my host dad's parents. Mami and Papi are visiting for the weekend since it is Mami's birthday. She got an orchid from the family as a gift and gave bisous (the little french cheek kisses) to everyone. We had 9 people for aperatif and dinner. We had a range of dinner topics which was only interrupted once by Sophie who burst into tears when talking about her math class. A serious discussion on China and the Chinese language, and minimal joking about Chanel's weight issue, which has been a constant joke since the vet visit.

Mami has deemed me "toujours propre" because I have been cross stitching a present for my nephew Corbin recently, so for two nights in a row after dinner I have taken out my cross stitching. Apparently I have failed to live up to the university age party image. Quel dommage!

More to come later because tonight is daylight savings and we have mass in the morning. Which will be my first french mass ever since I think we are only going because the grandparents are here.

xxx

My Momentous First Blog

So sitting in my room on the third floor of my French host family's house listening to Savage Garden I am not quite sure how to start. I have written one blog before but only about my traveling. Never about my daily life. Who knows maybe something interesting will pop out.

As I travel and live away from Alaska I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to have my friends and family. I just got back from a 4 day break in Scotland and I returned to Meylan, France to my room to discover three letters and a package waiting for me. I had a letter from my aunt, a letter from my grandma, and a card that had been signed by a bunch of my family members "just because." The package was from a close friend in Scotland, it was "a wee sparkly card" and a pair of earring I had been coveting for ages.

At the same moment I had to email my dad to inform him that once again disaster had struck his wayward daughter. I lost my cell phone while I was in Scotland, lost meaning I had managed to forget it in a taxi...never to be seen again. My friend Sam jumped into action and lent me her spare phone and Dad did the same. He scrounged up a spare phone at home and unlocked it so he could mail it to me. I lost my debit card three times in 2009 and my dad had the solution each time no matter where I happened to be located at the time. He is an amazing problem solver even though I think I manage to up the ante each time. I am hoping he views it as a challenge rather than the pain in the ass that it really is!

Every now and then I have moments where I am overwhelmed by how amazing everyone around me is. I am very lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful group of people in my life. Hopefully I can continue to remember this whenever things are difficult.

I think that will be all for now but more coming later on French life and thoughts about it.

xxx