Lyon!

Bonjour!

Yesterday, my host family said goodbye to my host sister! She left for Canada and I think has arrived safely. She didn't have the gross trip that I did. Because we trekked the two hour drive up to Lyon, we stayed up there for the day. It wasn't very nice out, so we just went to this huge Catholic Church that overlooks the city. It's called "Notre-Dame de Fourvière". It was so beautiful and I took a lot of pictures. Alas, I still do not have my SD card reader so I will post them when I can! Sorry about the delay on that! The pictures really do speak more than I could describe so I guess you will have to be patient.

After the Church, we went to a HUGE mall. While there, I bought my phone for France. That was a bit of a struggle. I had to listen to and attempt to comprehend more French today than I have in the past five that I have been here. It was really intense and very tiring. But eventually, I selected a phone and I can call or text anyone in France all I want (because it's unlimited...yay). That literally took 3 hours.

In between the phone hunting, we had lunch at this sandwich shop in the mall. There had been a few of these shops scattered around with ads for their "L'americain" sandwich. Once again, pictures will be posted when I can do that. But I obviously noticed these ads and the sandwich surprised me, but at the same time did not. It was ground beef, lettuce, ketchup and.... fries (?) on a baguette. I could not stop laughing once I realized what it had on it. I explained to my host mom that we don't put our fries ON our burgers in the US. She seemed surprised, because apparently all "American" sandwiches have fries on them. It was hilarious though. I probably laughed for a solid minute about it and intermittently for the rest of the day. It has become apparent that the USA is no more than burgers and fries. ;)

After we sorted out my cell phone issues, we roamed the mall and my host parents looked for things. This is when I really bonded with my other siblings. They hadn't really talked to me until today. I don't understand all of what they say (because they don't slow down when they speak) so I make them repeat everything like 3 times. It probably gets annoying, but hey, it works. I'm going to watch "Raiponce" ("Tangled") with my little sister tomorrow and it's going to be awesome :)

Also one thing I've noticed: French women are always extremely put together. They always have enough accessories. Like they perfectly balance rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings and everything with what they're wearing. I must learn this art. Soon. I'm already going to stick out because everyone I've met so far is super tan and I'm whiter than cream cheese (as my best friend back home would say). Oh well, it will all work itself out... I hope.

Until next time! Au revoir!

Amelia