The sun'll come out tomorrow

Harold is back in business, hooray! I finally have the freedom to go places, not that I can go anywhere too exciting in the week. Once the sun came out and we had a bit of rain, the snow soon began to disappear (thank god!) Krisztina and I took a quick and unsuccessful trip to Carrefour on Tuesday. All I wanted was some fabric softener, which was obviously too much to ask! I swear every shop here is utterly useless. I miss there being a shop nearby that is open until late, or at least open on a Sunday. I'm unsure whether 24 hour shops even exist in France or Switzerland, probably not...

Tuesday evening I almost broke Melanie's finger. She has developed this irritating habit of reaching into my back pocket where I keep my phone most of the time. So, there I was doing the washing up, she went to take my phone and I turned around quickly and pressed against the marble worktop slightly. It must've trapped her finger, because she spent a good while complaining about it, to which her mum simply replied 'well, you shouldn't pinch her phone.' Kevin just kept shouting 'I haven't seen Melanie cry in ages!' Totally not helpful. He said to his mum 'Melanie will be even more mean to Sara tomorrow morning, she's always grumpy and mean to her.' I swear Kev is my hero at the moment, he's always sticking up for me. I am trying my hardest to return the favour, especially after his comments about favouritism a few weeks ago.

Wednesday was...interesting, to say the least. Our cleaning lady came a little later than usual, as she's started a big new job in the centre of Divonne. I don't even know how our conversation started, but she ended up pretty much taking her top off to show me her horse tattoo on her shoulder. Thankfully, both host parents were out, which gave us the opportunity to actually speak for a change (it's basically forbidden.) She explained how much she hates it here, as being gay in this region is IMPOSSIBLE. When she went to rent an apartment, they refused her because she was moving in with her partner. I think everyone here is living in the 1950's or something, it's so backwards. Her dream is to move to Canada, where property is cheaper and people are much more open-minded. Fair play to her, she has a lot of crap to deal with here and anyone who uses the word 'merde' that much in her descriptions of this place and these people clearly doesn't want to be here. 

When he got home from school, Kevin spent his time getting in her way and generally making a mess. He has some 'magic' socks that mean you can do keepie uppies with bubbles, so you can imagine just how wet and sticky the floor got. He's challenged himself to do a 30-day no technology cleanse, which he's already struggling with (surprise surprise!) He seems to have two girls after him at school, who are basically trying to woo him with slime. We all think that this is the source of his new found pride in his appearance, as he's trying desperately to get rid of his spots, change his hair and stop his ticks. This could be the start of the new and improved Kevin, here's hoping. 

I spent an unnatural amount of time on Wedesday colouring a picture from Marilie's book. It wasn't quite as 'zen' as I had hoped, but it definitely helped chill me out a bit. I need all the relaxation I can get at the moment.

Happy International Women's Day for Thursday! I spent my morning in a French lesson, where the only male in the group was late because he was buying flowers and chocolates for all of the ladies in the class. He did proceed to slightly offend them all by saying something to the effect of 'I don't really agree with all this protesting.' The whole time I was praying that he didn't say something too offensive, as I believe 90% of the room were feminists. Thankfully, he didn't put his foot in it too much! 

Here is the first flower I have ever received, even if it's from a middle-aged Russian man.

Unfortunately, Kevin's technology ban didn't even last a day. Quelle surprise! His excuse was that nobody believed he could do it. Ironic that, isn't it? 

EVIDENCE!

On Friday, Marilie threw up...again. Her mum seemed to think that

it was something she ate, so insisted I sent her to school in the

afternoon. Before I sent her off, I made a futile attempt at a French

braid. It’s not too bad, considering I’ve never tried it before and

Marilie has pretty curly hair.

For a change, I was dreading the weekend. Without my two best

friends, my weekend looked to be pretty bleak. However, on

Saturday I managed to sort out my CV, applied to a few jobs and

almost finalised my university course. Perhaps a weekend in

was necessary to finally start sorting my life out!

In the afternoon I did a few laps of the lake (walking, obviously)

while I was on the phone to my mum. The weather was pretty

decent and I managed to avoid getting rained on, success.

When I’d finished walking in circles, I took a solitary trip to
McDonald’s. To avoid seeming like a complete and utter
loser I ate the food in my car. Arguably, that was even more sad...
I spent most of my time talking to a friend from home
and I think we both benefited from a friendly ear. I certainly

needed it, that’s for sure. Unfortunately, the McDonald’s
trip backfired rather ungracefully (I ate way

too much dairy and quickly regretted it.)

After driving back to Divonne, I picked up Niki and Lena
for a pub visit to Paddy’s in Ferney. I’m glad I managed to
get out of the house and actually communicate with other
humans. I won’t lie, I was a little worried that I’d be in bed all
weekend. At least I beat my own expectations!

I took it super slow and steady on Sunday. After a rather leisurely
shower, I got ready for the day and did some more research
into university courses. My host dad went to Costa Rica on
Sunday morning, so the host mum decided to take the kids to the

cinema. That involved me getting kicked out earlier than I’d have
liked, so I took another walk around the lake while wishing my
lovely Mum a ‘Happy Mother’s Day.’ Granted it was in the rain
and I had to grab a rather speedy, unhealthy breakfast,
but you only live once after all…

Luckily, I got a message to meet Brenda and Isa at Charly’s, so off
I went on my travels. After a bit of mooching and debating,
we decided against going ice skating and instead I went to
McDonald’s for a second time that weekend. I sincerely
hope that this doesn’t become a regular thing, because
I can kiss my ‘summer body’ out of the window. Who am I
kidding, I like food too much to have a good body?!

Of course, I had to leave early because of my tutoring.
I was already running a little late when a lovely

Irish lady approached me after hearing me speaking English.
She was looking for someone who could babysit around
once a month and wanted to find someone who spoke
English because it was easier for her kids. We swapped
numbers and hopefully I’ll have a couple of little jobs going
soon. I can’t even describe how much I love the family I tutor for.
I had barely set foot in the door before they were offering
me tea and cake, which is a big bonus for me!
I graciously accepted (obviously) and got chatting
to them all like I really belonged there. Their house is
the polar opposite to the one I live in, except for its
sense of open living. They have photos of the
children everywhere, which makes it feel

so warm and inviting. Although David was a little tired and
distracted, after a little ‘talking to’, he listened much
better and we managed to read some stories.

When I had finished, I drove back to Charly’s where all of the
Spanish speakers were. I am genuinely worried about how
much Spanish I understand, particularly when I’m meant
to be learning French. I shouldn’t be surprised when I
spend so much time with people who speak Spanish.

We made the executive decision to head over to the casino.
I’ve spent a while wondering what it’s like inside, so I was
happy to go along, even if I wasn’t gambling. It’s much
how I expected it to look, however there’s a vast difference
between the ‘electronic’ machine room and the room where the
table games are. The latter is basically silent, whereas all you
can hear in the former is the ‘ding ding’ of the machines
and the sound of buttons being pressed.

Before we starved to death, five of us decided to go to
ÔBrasseur in Saint Genis Pouilly. Thankfully, the wait to be
seated wasn’t TOO long, although the service was a bit slow.
Three of us shared two flammekueches, followed by a sort of
banana split pizza. If you can’t be indulgent on the weekend,

when can you? I can safely say that just sitting and chatting to
such lovely people really lifted my spirits, which were starting to
dwindle away into nothingness. Thank goodness for the people
I’ve made friends with here, otherwise I don’t think I could have
stayed for this long.

My French teacher has kindly informed me that I’m ready to
take the A2 Delph soon - joy! She also keeps slipping
in how she thinks that I (and two others) are at B1
level. I’m kind of hoping that that doesn’t mean I have
to take TWO tests, that seems like an awful lot.

Not long after that, I had to drive to the airport to retrieve my
favourite Columbian. I cannot describe how happy I am that
he’s back and just pray that he doesn’t go away without me again!

Pretty much as soon as I dropped him off at home, I drove to
Krisztina’s and summoned her for a walk around the lake.
Even though it was drizzling a little, she said yes, which is an
absolute miracle (she must’ve been deranged after her family
ski trip!) We both needed to pop into Carrefour for a few bits

and bobs. Unfortunately, this busy day meant that I skipped lunch
completely, which has never happened to me before.
Giant fail on my part. Hopefully I don’t skip any more meals this
week, because that would be an absolute disaster!

Sporting my jazzy new jumper