"Organized"

Bonjour!

This is going to be another of those quick updates because I haven't really been up to much.

On Thursday, we had a volleyball, basketball, and soccer (excuse me, football) tournament with two of our partner schools in Tours and Orleans. Joe and I went to play for the volleyball team. It was held in Tours, so us and 50 other students packed into a bus for the hour long ride up there.

By now, I shouldn't be surprised by France's "organization" skills, but I am-- every time. We signed up for this thing about month ago, then heard very little about it again. So it was coming up and we hadn't gotten any more information. (I need information.) Joe asked our volleyball coach about it and even he didn't know much about it. He was waiting for an email!

Wednesday, he finally posted on our Facebook group when and where the bus would be leaving from and that was all! That night we got an email telling us to bring our own lunch and wear red. That's just not enough for me!

So, we arrived in Tours and got off the bus and stood around until somebody found out where we were supposed to go. They led us into some trees, then across a bridge and down a path. I was looking around and I didn't see any buildings nearby that looked big enough to house volleyball courts, basketball courts, and a soccer field, so I was getting a little nervous.

We rounded a corner and in front of us was a big park with the fields and courts all set up. The guys in charge pointed to a dilapidated building and told us we could change in there. Thankfully the toilets worked.

I just don't get it. Why was it never mentioned that this was an outdoor party? You could have slipped that in somewhere!

Anyway, it ended up being ok. I got a pretty nice tan line on the back of my calves. Our school got first in soccer, second in volleyball, and third in basketball, and overall we won the whole tournament.

That night, they threw a party and me and a few international students went to get pizza. When we got back, we went to what I assume was some kind of talent show. It was fun enough, I guess, but being out in the sun all day had drained me and all I wanted was my bed.

Before that night, I'd never had the experience of riding on a bus with a bunch of drunk french guys, but now that I've done it I can say that I never want to do it again. They chanted about everything. Everything. "Ici c'est, Poitiers!" (Here is Poitiers.) Apparently we have a school chant, but it's really long and I could never understand what they were saying. They even chanted about how badly they wanted to stop to use the toilet. Boy, was it a long hour.

I had class early the next morning, which was brutal. Actually, the class wasn't that bad--the teacher was pretty great-- but still brutal. That class doesn't meet again until next week.

This week, I started a second class. I know it's wrong for me to complain considering how often I don't have to be in school, but three solid days of class is exhausting. It doesn't seem like it should be, but I'm absolutely worn out at the end of the day. Plus, the whole no air conditioning thing is beginning to be a problem again. It gets real hot, real quick in the classrooms.

Tuesdays are the absolute worst because we have an hour and a half of french a mere 15 minutes after we leave the class we've been in since 9:30 that morning. Yesterday, we had an exam in the french class, and I'm really hoping that I at least passed. It was so much harder than I anticipated. (It didn't help that I'd had class all day and they were blasting music in the courtyard next door. My teacher definitely caught me mouthing the words to the songs once or twice.)

Andddd, that's all I have to report. My weekend was uneventful, except that the weather was gorgeous. I spent some time outside and tried to even out what little tan I have.

This weekend I'm going to Paris to spend a bit of time there with Gabriella. I'm pretty excited about that since we had so much fun that day in Amsterdam!

Until next week,
Je t'embrasse,
Sarah