on saturday, we returned to Paris as a group and said goodbye to our host families. I cried when we drove away from our house. I hugged papa goodbye and left Valentin there too. the twins and Maman took me to the station. There was a 40 minute layover in the train. I couldn't talk to my family because I didn't want it to be too hard when I actually left.. but we went into the photobooth there since we were bored and took some pictures together. I also talked to the LDS missionaries that I met on Sunday when I went to church with my family. they are super nice and they've been helpful this past week. but it was totally weird seeing them there. I got their address because they wanted me to write and tell me about my tour in France.

we left Blois to Paris and got there in two hours. we got to our hotel and settled in. then we walked to some awesome crepe place and I had an AMAZING CREPE. it was egg, feta cheese, and tuna. probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. I wanted to cry.

then we went to a park and had group time. we shared good and bad moments we had at our homestay and had one-on-one chats with our leaders to make sure we were comfortable here.
then it started raining and we headed back to the metro to get to the hotel to change into nice clothes for the ballet. but we realized we had like 20 minutes to get there before it started and the doors closed so Breeze (my leader) literally ran to the hotel to get the ballet tickets while we turned around and went back. we walked probably 4 blocks in the pouring rain and got sooo soaked.

it was my first ballet. there were 3 acts. the first act had such a boring setting. no costumes, no nothing. the second act had at least some color lighting change. but the third act had a western background and the guys were dressed as cowboys and the ladies like those dancers you'd find in a bar--

gosh, in the olden days, guys! :)

but seriously, it was super weird. my hometown has real cowboys and hicks.... and when I think of cowboys, the last thing I think of is ballet. but it worked and it was fun and interesting that French people would want to watch a ballet about the place where I'm from.

it also made me miss home a little bit.. I miss the dryness and the hot sun. I miss mountains! you know how much sky there is here?? not in the city, but in the country. when I was in Chailles I could see soo much sky if I turned in a 360 outside.

anyways, after the ballet we rushed to another part of Paris and ate at this amazing restaurant! I ate salmon.. the best fish I have ever tasted in my whole life. really great food. ugh but we all looked at the food bill.. let's just say: très cher.


on Sunday, we went to the Eiffel tower. we planned to climb it but it started to get really windy so they closed the top floor. so we went to a cafe and watched the World Cup for women's soccer. we lost-- ooh la la, but it was still fun. we ate at a Russian cuisine restaurant which was very interesting. Inna spoke Russian and French and English all at once haha. it was actually really great food.


today, we helped in a soup kitchen. for the first half we cut vegetables and sorted some of the packaged foods, then we rode the bus to the kitchen location and served food to people. it was very interesting. most of the people were men, but there were also some families and women and babies. it made me realize how lucky I am to have enough to live.

after the soup kitchen we went to eat at a weird restaurant with crap on the walls and I finally tried escargots. it definitely looks disgusting. but it tasted okay. I only gagged a little. and, well....... that's it. goodnight. :) I start my internship tomorrow at a boutique! gotta get up early.