France: Day Two

On the second day, I woke up before anyone else. I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I just stayed in my room, watched a not-so-little spider spin her web in the window, and listened to the birds sing. Somehow that sound seems even more beautiful here in Europe. EVERYTHING here is beautiful. Its as if God concentrated all the beautiful things of the world into one single drop of beautey and placed it right here in this place.

The grass is the greenest green. This must be "the other side" that everyone is always talking about, because I don't see how it can get much greener than this.

Even the friggin ROCKS are beautiful. The dirt is so dark and moist, it contrasts against the stones and makes them look almost edible.

 Oh! Rewind! I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you. So before dinner, it was REALLY hot, so I decided to go for a swim. There were these two EXTREMELY good looking French boys playing Water Polo (which, if you don't already know, is like soccer in a pool), and they asked if I wanted to play. Normally I would run away from a situation like this with my tail between my knees, but in my quest to abandon all things normal I joined in. At first I had no idea what I was doing, but I caught on soon enough. They kept shouting all these strategies at each other, but even though I had absolutely NO idea what they were saying, I TOTALLY kicked thier trash. It was very satisfying to watch thier smug, cocky expressions change into shocked disbelief as I scored goal after goal. It was so unlike me, but I think that is what was so fun about it. I am LOVING the new me.

I think I might even be enjoying the language barrier, oddly enough. It's nice because nobody really expects you to be a real part of the conversation. I can simply sit back and listen to the rythm of the language. Maybe that is why I was so bold with those boys. I didn't have to be clever or witty, I could just be Me. . . Well, Me minus the words.

I am finding, however, that it can be VERY frustrating not to be understood. I'm learning the value of over-dramatic facial expressions, hand motions, and funny sounds. (Thank goodness for Drama, right?) No worries, though. I am learning, just slowly.

It will come to me soon enough.

A bien tot!