je suis arrivée!

i've settled into my host family's home in tours and things are going as well as they could be considering no sleep for twenty-four hours and the six-hour time difference. my family is very friendly (not at all your stereotypically rude french folks) and my living arrangements are small but comfortable. the rooms are kept very cold here so i'm anticipating a six-month cold unless i wear my hat, scarf, and gloves around the house.

the food has been decent so far; i'm not sure how to say "picky" in french so i've been good about trying everything even if it doesn't look very appetizing. last night we had salmon and rice followed by bread and weird-looking cheese followed by le roi des gallettes, a traditional french cake wherein a little trinket is buried and whichever person finds the trinket in his or her piece of cake is considered le roi or la reine (the king or queen) for the evening. last night it was my 15-year-old host brother, paul, who may or may not have cheated by very carefully selecting which piece he wanted to eat/rummage through. after sleeping for twelve hours (which my host mother informed me is pas grande chose because her twins can sleep until noon) i awoke to a very yummy chocolate croissant. we don't typically eat lunch (the biggest meal of the day) with our host families because we will usually be at the university but my host mom invited me to eat with her because the rest of the family left her for la chasse (to go hunting). she is the only one in the family who doesn't care for the sport and so she prepared us some scrambled eggs and some strange blended veggie concoction that she described as coming from a vegetable that is longue and verte (i'm thinking zucchini or cucumber?) anyway that wasn't my favorite but i'm being good about branching out of my comfort zone.

this morning she and i went for a walk so i could see where the language institute and the university are (as well as several other need-to-know spots, including h&m and zara, where apparently tous les jeunes shop). the streets are very busy because of les soldes, the post-holiday sales, and because all the shops are closed on sundays here. the business reminded me a lot of new york except the people were generally better-dressed and the buildings are prettier.

i'm off to meet the bucknell en france group at the jardin des prébendes so we can walk together to go buy cell phones. au revoir!