e hasn't been the first letter in my titles, so today's its day

today was a great day until the family came back to the house.
i woke up super early, ate a quick breakfast ( i think the grandmom was like....god stupid american) and then i met my new friend to ride our bikes to the city center. we road about 20 km total and it was so fun. when we got to salon, she showed me the local st vincent de paul so i can go thrifting. then we went to the market and we bought things for lunch. she bought a melon and i bought cheese. we road back, and god it was so great. we talked about everything: life, love, culture, french v american, religion. she spoke in english and i in french. when we were unsure about a word, we just asked "hey how do you say this in french" and we corrected each other when necessary. it was just such a beautiful experience.

then we got back to her house, went for a quick swim (it was SUPER hot), then we went back to the house and made lunch. lunch was such a sharing experience. she had lettuce and rice, i had cheese. i cut rosemary from her garden, she assembled the salads while i cut the melons. i felt so natural in her presence. we talked from 945 in the morning til 400 in the afternoon. as open minded as we both are, i could still sense the strong dislike of american culture in france. i guessi always thought it was a myth, especially because people have been fairly kind to me when i say i'm american, but once i've talked with people that will open up to me and frankly tell me what the french think of americans, i've realized that they really think we suck. like really are messed up. "america has a lot of loonies, huh?" that's an exact quote.

i'm near my wits end with defending america. if you don't like america, why are you obsessed with our celebrities? why do you let mcdonald's enter your precious, bistr0-ligned streets? why do you swoon over our music and movies? why are jeeps riding in your streets, almost as commonly as your citroens?

here are some cliches i've had people ask me about or just simply tell me about american culture (because i mean, they obviously know more about my culture. of course! im just a stupid american!)

1. americans eat at mcdonalds all the time
2. americans eat alone, all the time, standing up, and not in a proper fashion
3. americans are fat
4. americans are dramatic
5. americans are loud
6. america is a dictatorship
7. we study for 5 years at university ( i tried to explain that it's typically 4, but the grandpa exclaimed, "i don't understand!" and i just wanted to tell him listen to me and maybe you will)
8. american coffee is horrible
9. because america chose george bush as president, we are all horrible people.

honestly, numbers 2-9 are ones that have arrived between yesterday and today, so that's saying that there are a lot others that i've forgotten.

the grandparents are here and the grandma is killing my spirit for sure. i miss my grandma so much. i wish i could see my grandma and spirit killer in the same room because i would just die laughing. my gma would kick her butt.

the next weekend i was going to go with the family to drop the kids off in antibbes, but im not sure i can tolerate much of the family's shenanigans. at dinner, the dad was pouring everyone wine ( i had noticed that he had poured me the smallest amount both times) and on the last round, he filled up the gma, the gpa, and ooops he seemed to have run out right before me. the gpa was like what about chelsea and the dad was just like no. i tried to be dignified and was like no thank you, but there was nothing to reject. there was no more wine. i could stay here in the house alone, but i dunno. i hope colleen or lauren comes visit me.

alright petit poulet,
chels