I'm feelin' 22

Things are on the up...finally. But boy am I tired! My black eyes would beat a pandas, hands down. I'm not sure I'm actually sleeping quite as much as the FitBit tells me I do…

School has made things super busy this week. Who knew that primary schools in France need a police presence to control the flow of traffic? The first time I saw that, I thought it was complete madness! 

Wednesday is a day off for the youngest, so we went to the shop and made a lemonade stand for after dinner. The lemonade was scrummy, as was the chocolate biscuits. However, their hot chocolate IS NOT hot chocolate! I think she gave me Ovaltine, but I politely drank it anyway.

Apparently, it is unorthodox to heat things too much. My hot water (for tea obviously) was ‘too hot’ because I let it boil. Maybe it's me being a germaphobe, but I swear boiling water helps to sterilise it?

So, the oldest two and I have started watching Riverdale on Netflix. We managed to get through 3 episodes and I'm honestly hooked. I don't know whether I like it because the actual TV channels here are crazy so I tend not to watch them, or whether it's actually really good. I suppose only time will tell. It was well worth boycotting going out for anyway!

Friday is the day I celebrate my birth, without my friends and family for the first time ever. 22 years on this utterly insane planet, of which I have currently seen very little (but am determined to see more of!) 
My host family very kindly bought me some presents and a Black Forest Gateau (could be touch and go, I don't like them usually, but finally something sweet to enjoy!) This is my birthday present from nature and, quite frankly, it was beautiful to wake up to.

I think my host family appreciated the honest and candid account of my feelings, which I had written down in a letter for them to discuss. So Friday morning, we openly talked about ways to effectively manage living together, by helping and supporting one another. I'm feeling optimistic about what is to come.
The rest of my birthday brought biscuits, sweets, pizza and drinks. Perfect! We randomly met an English couple at Full Moon, who bought me a drink for my birthday and tried to get us to babysit. All in all, it was a relatively good day!