Word of the Day: "Moufle"

We woke up in the hotel around 9:30 am. Kristin and Peyton went downstairs to have breakfast, which was supposed to cost 12 Euros, but the hotel manager let them eat for free for whatever reason. He must’ve been in the Valentine’s Day spirit (which, by the way, they don’t really celebrate here. They know what it is, but don’t do anything special for it). I decided to sleep in and was planning on getting a croissant from a café, but Peyton and Kristin had brought a croissant avec Nutella and pain au chocolat back to the room for me, which was very nice of them.

We checked out and walked to the Accent Center (the center that is coordinating our trip). Even though the walk was only 5 minutes, we still looked ridiculous hauling our massive luggage down the cobblestone sidewalks. Accent had a “Welcome University of Michigan Students” sign, which was pretty neat. We met some of our classmates there, who were all ridiculously tired and jet-lagged, as they had all flown in that morning. Nine of us walked around the area for an hour or so, getting to know each other better. We returned to Accent and had our homestay orientation, where they gave us an hour’s worth of tips for living with a French family.

aprés ça, then sent us in taxis to our homestays. Since I’m the only person in the 14^th district, I had the taxi to myself. I’m hesitant to call it a taxi, because it was a sleek black Mercedes with beautiful leather interior. I was rollin’ in style. I arrived at my homestay around 5:30pm, where the mother and 2 youngest children were eagerly awaiting my arrival. Their names are Geoffroy (pronounced jeff-wah) who is 13 and Diane (pronounced Dee-ahn) who is 10. There is an 18 year old son, but he lives at school. I went into my room, which is pretty spacious and has a balcony overlooking a garden. Shortly after I started unpacking, the 16 year old daughter, Inès (pronounced ee-ness), came home. I heard her say “Elle est la? (She is here?)”, then she came in my room and gave me a kiss on either cheek. How Parisian is that!? Admittedly, it threw me a tad out of my comfort zone, but when in Paris…

We had dinner around 8pm, which is standard here, and it was pretty tasty. It was a mashed potato bake with beef and cheese in it. We had a homemade tarte aux pommes (apple pie) for dessert. The apple pie didn’t have a crust on top, but the bottom had lots of sugar, which caramelized in the oven. Yummm. They made easy conversation with me over dinner and had lots of questions for me. They are very patient with my rudimentary knowledge of French and compliment me when I can say a few sentences without stuttering. I learned that the father is a civil engineer and the mother is a retired Marine officer, who still works for the Marines, but in an office job. I gave them the gifts that I purchased in Michigan. I got them an assortment of things from Cherry Republic and a Michigan-shaped oven mitt with lots of cities listed on it. They got a kick out of the fact that Michigan is shaped like une moufle , and loved that I could show them where I live on an oven mitt. The daughters raced to the bathroom after dinner and called me over a few minutes later. They were so excited when I confirmed that they had located Michigan on the world map on their bathroom wall.

Affecteusement,

Katie