unpacking, celebrity sighting, funny sunburn

Hey! This is the first time, I promise, that I have been able to get online. The computer didn't work this morning and we got back from the beach late last night. Sorry if there are lots of typos since I'm new on this french keyboard éà€§! So hmm... everything that has happened so far...well mu flights went well, I sat next to Sarah from Ohio who is in Toulouse also and will be going to my school too! We got along really well and I can't wait to see her again. We had a super long layover in Pqris but it turned out alright because we just hung out with the other Americans who had to wait also and the district chairman for our commitee was with us. It was a funny sight coming out of customs because we all stumbled out with all of our bags and there was a big mob of like 30 men in blazers walking around and when they found who they were looking for by looking at at our name tags on our blazers they gave youa bisous on both cheeks and took you away. Some of the Americqns were being picked up by their host family's right there. When we arrived in Toulouse it was on a much smaller scal, but very overwhelming. It was definitely the most overwhelming thing I hqve ever experienced. I hadn't really slept in more than 24 hours and here are these people you are going to be with for a whole yeqr! They gave kisses all around and took your bags and talked and talked. They rest of the night is kind of a blur. We drove to the house and hqve some dinner, I showed Antoine and Nadine my scrapbook and gave them their presents. Here is the summary of what the weekend was like in Arcachon:

Friday: left at 9am and went and picked up Clementine, 18, and Emmy Lou, 15. It was their house that we were going to, their parents were already there. We got to Arcachon after 3 hour drive, had some lunch and talked, well I listened a lot. Then we went and climbed the Dune to Pyla, which is the highest sand dune in Europe. It's kind of odd that it's there, but it had a magnificent view across the Atlantic from the top. Then we drove back to their house and cleaned up because it had started raining. Then we visited Belvidière, the quarter of Arcachon which is full of little castles, each house was a mansion. They were built in the 19th century by the rich of Bordeaux who cam there to vacation in the winter and summer. We even saw Alexandre Dumas' house! Then we saw the reminents of the old casino and walked around cute Arcachon. Every store was having sales and stuff because the annual ummer festival in France of August 15th was cancelled in Arcachon because it was raining, so it was tonight! We went back home and had delicious mussels for dinner. Then we went and sat on the beach and saw the fireworks.

Saturday: Slept in and then went shopping. Guess who I saw??? None other than Cécilia Sarkozy! The First Lady of France! We (me, Nadine, Clementine, Emmy Lou, and Claire, their mom) went to the chic quarter and looked at all the stores because there were so many sales. I din't get anything, its so expensive! So anyway we walked in the store and there she was on oneside and all the other women on the other, whispering! If you want to know, she was wearing Citizen's jeans (that's the same brand I have so ha! Shouldn't she at least wear French jeans? not American?) a lime green ralph lauren polo shirt (the kind with the giant log and a 3 on the sleeve) and flats. Obviously none of them had seen her before so they spent the next 30 minutes talking aboiyut her and how she looked. They had read in the newspaper the Sarkozy was in Arcachon for the weekend, I guess he used to vacation there but since he had become president we had spent most of the summer in Miami or Malibu. In the afternoon we took their boat to an island in the middle of the bay and we swimming and stuff. There are these 2 big old fishing houses from 1848 there are stilts that were going to get destroyed soon. Then we went home and took showers and drove down the coast and had dinner at the end of the dune. I had confit de canard! First time I had duck like that and it was really good! So was the crepe for desert!

Sunday: Left around 11 and took the boat to a sandbar that separates the bay and the ocean. We swimming in the the atlantic a lot and had a picnic and slept. I got sunburn on my back between my bikini bottoms and tankini top. The red strip hurts some and looks funnywith ,y tanline from the lifeguard suit. We ten took the boqt a little ways out in the bay and put the anchor down and just dove off the boat and got back on, dove off etc. That was fun except a little scary because the ways were really big and it was a little rough swimming back. After a light dinner we drover bqck to Toulouse. Clementine and I traded iPods and it was fun to see that we had a lot of the same music. She just turned 18 a couple days ago and finished the high school that I will be going to when she passed the bac. So I will have somer of her old teachers. She's starting Architecture School at the end of September.

Today!: Unpacked all my stuff and put it all away. I will share a little of the dorm living experience as my friends because my room is pretty small. Nadine and I went grocery shopping and then I just went swimming and layed out my the pool. I think soon we might got meet her mom and pick up the dog, U2, from her.

This week should be interesting and relaxing. School starts next tuesday, but I need to get my carte de séjour before then and open a bank account, cell phone, stuff like that. It sounds like there will be 5 exchange students at my school, so that will be fun. So far things have been alright, it's hard because everyone is trying to get to know you at once, and what I think in my head of what I want to say in French it sounds ok, but then when I open my mouth it comes out all jumbled and backwards. This is so far harder than I thought it would be, and harder than anything I've ever done before, but the beginning is the hardest. Everyone is super nice, school will keep be busy soon.