"A great big party every night, that doesn't sound too bad!"

Woohoo, what a weekend!  Started off Friday with my lovely British friend's birthday celebration.  We started in the kitchens of the residence halls and then headed over to a club.  It was my first time clubbing, and it was pretty fun =)  And, exciting thing I tasted - mint flavored rum!  Highly recommended, particularly to mix with hot chocolate.  Of course, I only had a sip…not recommending you drink as much as everyone else did haha, otherwise your morning is going to majorly suck.  As the only sober person (all I had was a sip of wine and a sip of the rum - I know, mixing alcohols, but I only had a sip of each to taste them), it was super amusing, particularly on the walk home.  I won't embarrass anyone by actually posting what happened, but suffice to say it was quite a night that only I will remember haha =)  I think I can safely post one thing that was awesome: the other Sooner and I sang Boomer Sooner as loud as possible at about midnight in the center of Limoges right by city hall :)  School spirit woohoo!!!

Then, Saturday was yet another birthday celebration!!  My American friend turned 20, so we went to the delicious Indian restaurant where I had an amazing chocolate mousse and gorged on delicious Indian food (which I'm starting to fall in love with haha).  We then went to a bar, but I didn't drink.  I had a kir with dinner since it was cheap, and I like to remain level-headed, so that was it for me.  I went home shortly afterward, but I know some clubbing ensued after the bar.  I was tired - lame, I know haha, but I'm not a super huge party animal.  After all, Friday was the first time I've ever been clubbing.  Including in the US.  So give me a break haha :)  At least I managed to go clubbing while I was a teenager - I'm running out of time to be all rebellious and whatever else teenagers are supposed to be!  Only a little more than 1 month woohoo!

Sunday was pretty relaxing - the third American and I baked a cake to surprise the birthday American.  It was quite an adventure, and it tasted delicious!!  We sort of had an issue getting the cake out of the pan…so the top of the cake became the bottom of the cake while the bottom of the cake stayed stuck in the pan haha.  We covered the destroyed "bottom" of the cake that made it out of the pan in Nutella and then crumbled up the stuff left in the pan on top of the cake as decoration =)  Put a couple of meringues on top and tada!  Delicious chocolate cake with Nutella frosting =)  Success!!!  Culinary experiments are going quite well.  I also made a "chicken marsala" - the quotes are because I just sort of dumped mushroom soup and Merlot into a pot with chicken and crossed my fingers that it would be edible and somewhat delicious.  It was also a success =)  Happiness in the kitchen!!

And this will probably be the last, if not second to last, blog post for a while, because I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!!!!!!!!  So I'm not going to worry about finding internet and posting blogs while there…expect a super epic long blog when I get back though haha =)

"You gotta taste this! This is... oh, it's got this kind of... mmm, it's burny, it's melty... it's not really a smoky taste. It's kind of like a certain... Pshah! It's got like this " Ba-boom! Zap!" kind of taste. Dont you think? What would you call that flavor? "

I feel like such a culinary genius!  I just made an amazing toasted sandwich with my AWESOME OVEN THAT I NOW HAVE!!!  And it was delicious =)  I also bought a pan so that I can actually cook stuff other than pasta.  Super excited!!  I meant to take a picture of the sandwich…but I was hungry.  Maybe with the next one haha.

I've just about gotten all of the paperwork taken care of to be completely moved in.  All that's left to do is look into getting reimbursement since I'm an "unemployed French resident" and therefore qualify for government financial aid and change my housing insurance address.  Everyone here is very nice!  I spoke with the cleaning lady this morning as she checked the condition of my room and she was super helpful and understanding that French isn't my first language.  She was willing to make sure I understood everything and took the time to make sure I knew exactly what to do should I have any problems.  Of course, I don't really have any problems right now, because my room is brand new!  Literally, I had to take the plastic wrap off of some of the appliances.  It's great =)  The only thing that's wrong is they forgot to put the little twisty-thing on the window that makes the shades go up and down, so I can't let in any sunlight :(  Not to worry though, that will be fixed soon!

I've decided that they must have known my personality when checking the room before I got here.  They left me 5 blankets!  Anyone who knows me knows that I'm always freezing, so this is perfect =)  Of course, my new bedroom has a working heater (thank goodness!), so I don't actually need all 5, not to mention the one blanket I brought from home and the other I had to buy in my old, heat-less room.  Luckily, the blanket I bought is super nice and was super cheap, so it's not like I completely wasted my money.  After all, it gets cold in Norman too!  Except apparently not this year…US gets mild winter and Europe gets worst winter in history.  That figures.  Thanks a lot, universe!  Haha =)

"If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true."

THE DREAM THAT I WISHED CAME TRUE!!! (Well one of the dreams anyway haha)  I just moved into my new bedroom, and it is amazing =) I am sooooo happy!!!  I have my own bathroom now!  Nevermind the fact that you literally have to stand in the shower in order to go to the bathroom and when you take a shower, the entire bathroom floor gets soaked because the shower is the entire bathroom haha.  I don't care.  It's mine =)  And this bed is probably one of the coolest beds I've ever slept on.  It descends from the ceiling electrically, so during the day you put it up and at night you bring it down and climb on top of the desk in order to go to sleep.  Super high-tech!  And I have internet in my bedroom!  It took a few days to get moved-in and set-up, hence the lack of blog posts.  But now everything's amazing =)  However if you thought your bedroom is small, wherever you are, I guarantee you mine's half the size haha.  There's a reason my bed descends from the ceiling - it literally doesn't fit on the floor.  I barely fit on the floor!  I can touch both sides of my room with my hands at the same time.  On the bright side, I barely have to do any cleaning here!  =)

I may be the only American over here in this residence hall, but I'm not the only English-speaker!  Woohoo!  I met some awesome British students, so when the French is too overwhelming I have a refuge.  Maybe I'll even start to develop a British accent haha! =)  It's really exciting to me to have so many international friends - it makes me appreciate Facebook so much more, because I will be able to keep in touch with almost everyone when I go home.  And that's the last time I'm mentioning going home haha - don't want to think about that yet!  It's too wonderful here to think about home…although my French professor today certainly made me a little homesick in class.  Not exactly homesick, just really craving a delicious, rare, Texas steak.  Apparently I live in the beef region of France.  I had a steak here at the cafeteria.  Granted, it was the cafeteria, but still…that doesn't count as steak in Texas.  I almost busted out laughing in class when the professor said this region of France is known for beef.  I'll show you beef - it's a 3 hour train ride and a 10 hour plane ride away, so give me 26 hours plus time to get through customs and smuggle some meat over here =)

However, when I am missing food from home, I can always go to the market, because I found the Mexican food isle!!  Fajitas, burritos, tacos…and something interesting that they call guacamole but isn't anything like the guacamole I make other than the fact that it's green.  But it's not even the same shade of green haha.  I may try it one day though, just to see =)  If it tastes horrible, well I'll find something to do with it haha!  Maybe someone who's not from a New Mexican family will appreciate it more than me.

I did just think of something I miss about America…National Half-off Chocolate Day!  Since Valentine's Day is basically just another day here, there isn't a huge discount at the French Walmart the day after in order to sell all the candy.  It's funny, it seems like just yesterday I was walking in Walmart with my mom and laughing that they were already putting out Valentine's candy.  And suddenly I've been in France for almost 6 weeks!  It's crazy how fast time flies!  But I am definitely not taking a single minute here for granted - I am going to milk every last second out of this amazing experience and see and do absolutely everything possible =)

"To die would be an awfully big adventure."

 So explanation of this quote really quickly: I just had an amazing, huge adventure.  And I almost died.  Sort of.  So it's a fitting quote =)  Don't worry, all will be explained haha.

I haven't posted in a while because I was in Bordeaux!!  I walked to the train station at 4:15 in the morning through the snow and freezing weather, only to learn that the train was late!  But it was ok, I caught up on sleep during the train ride.  And then I arrived =)  It was very beautiful, even with the slight dusting of snow left over from the snow storm the day before I arrived.  I walked up and down the main shopping street, Rue St. Catherine, until lunch time and found an amazing pair of fur-lined boots for only 10 euro! Of course I bought them, and happily I can now feel my toes again!  After changing into my amazing new shoes, I found a nice restaurant where I ate an amazing pizza that was incredibly delicious...and huge.  It was an instance of Man vs. Food, and in this instance, man won =)  I devoured that pizza like I hadn't eaten in over a week haha.  Then, I finally got to check into the hotel and put down my backpack, only to go trek over to the Cathedral St. Andre.  It was beautiful, even under construction - they're renovating/cleaning up the cathedral.  And then, like the beast that I am, I climbed 232 tiny, spiral stairs, my shoulders touching each side of the wall the entire time, to get to the top of the bell tower and take amazing pictures of the city.  I'm the stair master =)  (Shrek reference anyone?? Haha I know, it's not Disney, otherwise that may have been today's quote)  I ate dinner at an Italian restaurant with the most amazing chocolate dessert ever!  And, since I was in Bordeaux, I decided to try a sip of hot wine to warm myself up a bit.  It was ok...not bad, but not a favorite of mine.  But the other Americans really liked it, so that was good =)

The next day, I went to St. Emilion.  And it was the adventure of adventures.  First, the train from Bordeaux to St. Emilion drops you off literally in the middle of nowhere at this abandoned shack next to a bench - that's the train station.  I had no clue which way to walk to find the city, so I just turned left towards this major road intersection.  I should have turned right, for at the intersection I saw a sign telling me that St. Emilion was in fact 2 km behind me.  So I back-tracked past the train station and hiked up to the city.  By that time, I was starving, so I found this cute little restaurant in a miniature castle-looking building and had the most amazing meal of my life.  Amazing, homemade soup, duck breast, and a "canele" - a dessert specific to the Bordeaux region.  Incredible.  Then I found the tourist office, and went to the renowned "Maison du Vin" - House of Wine.  Which is a complete waste of time in February when it isn't tourist season.  So I just went to all the wine stores and started sampling.  Don't worry, I did actually buy two bottles, I didn't just drink all their wine and then leave empty handed every time haha.  I bought a half bottle that was made in my birth year!  It was super cheap, so I couldn't resist haha.  Hopefully it tastes good!!  Well, it was made in St. Emilion...it will taste good.  I also bought a second bottle, not sold anywhere else in the world.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY PARENTS!!!! (And dare I say happy graduation to my not-old-enough-to-drink brother too?? haha)  After that, there wasn't much else to do, because the castle was closed due to ice, so I just sat in a cafe and listened to Italian music (I know...Italian music...in France...) while drinking my hot chocolate and waiting until closer to my train departure time to walk back to the station.  And now for the near-death part: so the speed limit on the streets was around 30 km/hour, which is school zone speed, so since I was carrying two nice bottles of wine, I walked in the street to avoid the icy sidewalks.  Suddenly I heard this extreme vrooming.  I leaped out of the road onto the sidewalk just as this car comes flying down the road at maximum speed.  Slipped and just about fell on my butt :(  But I didn't die, so it was all good! =)  What an adventure.  But I made it back to Bordeaux in one piece and found a little convenience store, where I bought a baguette, cheese, and a screw-top bottle wine.  Yep, screw off wine in Bordeaux.  Why?  Didn't pack a corkscrew and didn't want to buy one =)  Hooray wine country!

So that's my adventure of Bordeaux.  It was amazing and fun and incredible, despite being frozen.  The "beautiful" vineyards were still beautiful, despite the fact that they were dead and covered in ice and snow.  It was a wonderful little weekend trip =)

"I'm tired, and I'm hungry. And my tail's froze. And my nose is froze. And my ears are froze. And my toes are froze."

Hooray for snow!  My first two classes were cancelled because of the weather =)  And I finally found a class to replace the phantom class! Greek mythology woohoo haha.  The professor started writing in Greek on the board…and I was suddenly afraid I was in the wrong class, or that Greek was a prerequisite since Europeans, for the most part, speak at least two languages if not more.  Fortunately she then translated it into French for us, so everything was okay.  I don't want to learn a new language haha!  Especially with a new alphabet!  Although I did get kind of excited because I recognized the letters from chemistry, physics, and calculus =)  Yay nerds haha!

I feel I must make a disclaimer about my blog posts since I've gotten some comments, particularly from my parents haha: I don't drink all the time here.  And when I do drink, I definitely don't get drunk - I'm always perfectly aware of my surroundings and in complete control of my actions.  Most of the time, the alcohol references in my blog entries are jokes.  Only if I explicitly say I drank some specific drink and liked it did I actually drink that night.  I'm kidding for the rest of them.  Promise =)  I will say though, on the topic of alcohol, my friend and I really wanted to buy some Bailey's today (never mind the fact that it was 9:45 in the morning when we were shopping haha) because it came with Lindor truffles :)  Why buy the candy when you can get it for free with a bottle of alcohol??  Maybe after I move I'll buy a bottle…we'll see.  I'll already be buying alcohol that night: bribing people to help me move with wine, cheese, and baguettes!  If it's super cold, which it will be, hot tea and Bailey's might be more appropriate haha.

Speaking of hot tea, drinking hot tea is not an option here.  It's a medicinal requirement to treat the frostbite you get after walking outside to class or when waking up in the morning after a super cold night (still no heat…despite the fact that this is going to be one of the worst winters Europe has had in decades…way to go France haha).  It's the only way to stay warm in this frozen tundra.  That and lots of blankets!  Seriously, I'm drinking tea about as fast as I'm making carbon dioxide (yay chemistry! Haha).  You would think a hot shower would help…but there has to be hot water in order to take a hot shower.  And believe me, cold showers when there's snow on the ground outside and no heat inside are miserable.  I'm hoping I'll feel my fingers and toes again in March or April =)

"You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of." "But you have heard of me."

I feel really proud - I was able to show 2 Americans a YouTube video they'd never seen before!  That never happens to me!  I'm the most pop-culturally unaware teenager that ever lived, so this was a big deal for me.  And now, they have been introduced to the tale of Captain Jack Sparrow =)  Shout out to all my awesome friends from Walker 10 last year, since that's the song we played for all the studying for finals :)

I was going to go to the market today and stock up on enough food to last until I move…and then I looked out my window and saw buckets of snow falling from the sky.  I can't see the street, because the snow is up over the curb.  In France, they don't clear the streets, you just drive through the snow.  I've been watching the cars trudge down the street, and also watching a dog having the time of its life while it's owner froze her butt off =)  Which is why I'm back in bed, in my cozy pajamas, with a nice cup of hot tea and some crackers with Nutella beside me.  I don't need food - I can live off of pasta and wine for a couple days.  After all, who needs things like juice?  It's not like I have anything to mix with it ;)  And as for breakfast food...Nutella and crackers works just fine =)  I did trek to the bakery though to get some bread, and rewarded myself with an éclair!  Can't wait for dinner tonight!!

Since they don't clear the streets, they for sure don't clear, or even salt, the sidewalks.  I like my tailbone in one piece, thank you very much, so I'm not leaving my bed.  Ever.  Until April, when it's slightly warmer.  But I can build a snowman from my bedroom!  There's enough snow on my window ledge to make a mini snowman, which means I can accomplish my lifelong goal while staying warm in my pjs =)  Update: tried to  make the mini snowman…it's the wrong snow.  So no more accomplishing lifelong goal :(  I trudged outside and discovered the snow is up to my ankles!  Powdery, freezing softness inside my shoes!

To make today's blog post more interesting, let me tell you a story about why I love France.  I'm applying for financial aid, because I am considered a legal French resident until the end of May, and I've never earned a single euro in my life.  Which means I'm an unemployed French student and can apply for government aid.  Filling out the forms, I realized why it was so weird: there was no box to check if you're Latino or Hispanic.  They don't care what race you are; if you need the aid, that's all that matters.  No racial quotas to meet, no "Oh, you're Hispanic, well congratulations you just got all the money you need!  And as for you white people, well sucks for you!"  I've been filling out summer research applications all weekend, and every single one has a box to check if you're Hispanic.  Which means a perfectly-qualified, intelligent, white girl like me doesn't stand a chance.  Never mind the fact that I'm at the very top of my class and set the curve in almost every class I've ever taken.  I'm not a minority.  I'm hoping the fact that I'm a girl helps me, which in reality is kind of pathetic.  I should be hoping that my grades, teacher recommendations, and academic accomplishments help me.  They would here in France, that's for sure.  America needs to shape up in that respect and look beyond ethnicity.  There's my rant, I'm done, for now…until decisions are made about programs =) 

I really want to get accepted to Johns Hopkins!  Can you say prestige followed by greatest research experience ever??? =)  Oh, and can you also say jet-lag and exhaustion and death…since it starts 2 days after my French proficiency exam that I have to take here, which means I'm taking the test and hopping on a train as fast as possible to get to Paris and fly out the next morning, straight to the university.  No time for sleep…it's over-rated.  And no time for a quick pit stop in Houston.  Yep, guess who may or may not go home until Christmas?  I mean, I hope they'll let me fly home for a weekend to see my brother graduate, but there are a million mandatory orientation things the first week or two of the research project, so who knows.  But it's ok, it will be worth it in the long run to put on my resume and maybe get a super awesome scholarship like Goldwater, Rhodes, Marshall.  And, it will especially be worth it when I finally do make it home and my mom makes the delicious Jack Daniel's pie she always makes, which of course she will make since she will have missed me so much =)

“The seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake.”

Such a true quote.  Which is why I have decided to move to the other lake =)  Yep, big things are happening here in Limoges!  And that's why I haven't posted in a few days.  I'm leaving the run-down shantytown nightmare that is Camille Guerin and headed to La Borie on 15 February =)  Super excited to have my own bathroom and internet in my bedroom!  And maybe even heat in my bedroom! Which is a necessity, considering the temperature is absolutely freezing and there's snow and ice on the ground.   So excited!!!  Because I am just way too far out of my comfort zone here.  It would be different if this was my only choice, but it's not.  I don't have to live as if I'm in a third world country that gets lucky every so often and gets running water occasionally.  Time to move to the lake with greener seaweed =)

Anyway, so I tried to go to my phantom class again…and decided that maybe it's a sign that I should take volleyball =)  Yep, that's right, I'm going to check the sports formation.  Lord help the French, because I may be playing a sport with a ball.  Death, darkness, and destruction is about to commence!  Or, I'll play it safe and take Greek Mythology, which would actually help me for my General Education credits.  But seriously, who wants to take classes when they study abroad?  =)

After classes ended, I decided that buying a winter coat was a necessity.  Being the genius that I am, I didn't pack a winter coat despite the fact that France is the same latitude as Canada.  I ran to the mall, because this is the end of the sale period, and found an awesome red coat for 12 euros!!!  Hooray for sales!!!  I also found a few other things…like a scarf and long sleeved shirt, both of which were under 5 euros.  Excellent shopping excursion in my opinion!  And now I'm done spending money in Limoges.  Time to save up for Bordeaux, and Italy, and the Netherlands, and Clermont-Ferrand…. =)

That being said, I did actually spend about 6 more euros when I went shopping with the other international students.  However, it was to buy a blanket for my bed, which in my opinion was a necessary purchase.  As I said, I have no heat.  Even after drinking a full glass of wine, I still couldn't sleep through the night because I was freezing.  Yay for sales again - I got a super nice, soft blanket for super cheap!  Woohoo!  It helped…a little.  The cold draft can't really be fixed, no matter how many blankets I buy.  I managed to sleep for 6 straight hours though!  However, I also tried something new last night….so that may have helped too haha =)

I was introduced to a good friend named Amaretto last night.  He and Coca-Cola definitely helped me sleep, especially the way my friend poured the drinks!  And then afterwards she introduced me to rum.  I had about a shot of Coke with some rum.  Definitely didn't finish that one, because I did not want to get drunk and then hung over haha.  But the way I've  been drinking water and eating bread, I didn't feel the drinks at all.  And boy were they good!  I definitely liked the Amaretto.  Man, I can't wait until I turn 21 and can do this in the states!!  Maybe I'll just stay here for another year or so and continue  my pastry-eating alcohol-drinking experience =)