I am finally here, typing on a strange keyboard and reciting everything that I am writing in French to practice.

My flight went well, all 20 hours of it. I met some very interesting people, namely two salmon fishing smokers, a British world traveler, and a gossiping boozer who gave me her business card. All in a day's work, no?
Ste Croix en Plaine is gorgeous! There are trees everywhere, and it rained most of today (it is about 65 degrees here, 13 celcius). The village is full of small, old buildings that posess the kind of beauty that doesn't exist in the US. And yes, there is a little bakery on a lonely corner. Everyone has been so kind to me, and accepting of my sorry attempts to converse with them.

Today, I slept in late and then in the afternoon Maelle and I went to her school, which I will be attending for the next week and two days. Talk about a whirlwind!!
I was startled by how easy it was and is to fade out of conciousness and forget to listen. Many times today, I found myself realizing that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. At her school, they have one hour and two hour blocks of every class on various days. Today we had German and Economics; tomorrow, science and spanish (i think). I will just say that I have been getting a lot of reading done, haha.

I am still unsure if I believe my own eyes, or ears, or mouth. Everything is different, but at the same time it is so so so familiar. As I was falling asleep last night, I had to remind myself that I was 5000 miles away from "my bed". However, that did not change the fact that instead of english racing through my mind, french conjugations and musings lulled me to sleep.

And with that, I must go. I just have to keep two things in mind:
1. Strangers don't judge.
2. The majority of life's hardest tasks are the most worthwhile.

p.s. I apologize for any typos. This keyboard is making me insecure, haha :)