First Week, Check!

One week down 51 to go. This time last Saturday, I was a pool of my own emotions and exhaustion. Tonight, I am a pool of crêpes and exhaustion.

I just survived my very first dinner party...en Français. Who is proud?
The guests were lovely and they brought their two kids. I can't, for the life of me, remember any of their names but I went into swim mode. I introduced myself, told them where I was from, told them I understand most of what they say even though I might respond slowly, and then I was a full member of the pleasantries during dinner. I mean, I was quiet but I still got shit done.

Now, I feel like I've made some real steps. So, here are some things a person feels free to record after their first full week in a country.

• Europeans drive zippy little cars, in tight spots, LIKE they are in Fast and Furious or The Italian Job. I love it. 
• I was feeling super comfortable in their car. Then I realized today it's a hybrid. 'Splains a lot.
• There were some cool shoes and the would-be Walmart of France. Cheap, kinda lame, SUPER out there.
• Man bags...'nough said. It's a thing here. 
• At the park today, I was looking at a baby deer roaming around the arena. I thought to myself, as most people do, I have two ways of looking at this. Here is this setting, calm, serene, beautiful. This fawn is happy, it's content, it's eating, it's sleeping, it's skipping around like it's Christmas and it just found all its presents yada yada. OR I could embrace the writer in me and describe the scene as a complete skeptic. There lies the fawn, unsuspecting, ignorant, trapped. Its freedom rests in the very barbed wire fences that secure its compliance. It knows no other life. How foolish, little fawn. Your fate was determined before your mother was even born. 
• See the difference?
• I realized also, that I've only seen two kinds of people. Parents and their kids. No one my age yet. Good thing I look like I'm 15 half the time. 
• I feel like a fly on the wall sometimes as I observe the family, their routines, and their mannerisms. 
• Saw a dope ass bird show, where eagles soared legit above my head, and tiny little owls landed next to me.
• Lastly, the kids touched tongues in the car. Eléonore made them stop. Thank. God. Kigs are effing weird. 

So, that's pretty much it. I am full of beaucoup des crêpes. I have showered, shaved, and am ready once again for sleep. It cannot come quickly enough. 

P.S. At the park today I drank my first French beer. I didn't realize what it was when Antoine, the father, offered it to/split it with me, and I felt rude declining the half filled tiny plastic cup. Surprisingly delicious. Like Lemonade. 

Bonne nuit!