life in France

Once again, I apologize for any misspellings (ha) etc, French keyboards are STILL hard to navigate around. Le sigh.

Every morning I wake up to a ¨Bonjour Alina¨from downstairs at around 8. Typically I am already awake and just lying in the warmth while Hugo and Mattis (their other son who was away on a ski trip...yes I seem to be forever surrounded by skiiers) rummage around in the dark. I have yet to master the stairs in the morning but when I finally make it down I see the Deboutes sitting around a small table with a large jar of jam, a huge stick of butter and some form of bread. I should note several things about breakfast: they drink a strong type of instant coffee with a small spoonfull of brown sugar, they never use plates and they typically dont toast the bread. Hugo and Mattis eat a completely different breakfast than us ¨adults¨ which consists of hot coco and cereal. 9 o´clock rolls around and I go to work. The last few days my project has been scrubbing clean hundreds of hard wood floor boards that Franck inherited from a friend whose house recently burnt down (3 days after being built, mind you, c´est domage!). I´ll work until around 1 and then get called inside by Hugo ¨on mange!¨ Its weird but in France I feel like I´m always anxiously awaiting the meal. Lunch is an array of random foods. For example, today we ate leftover rice, eggs from the chicken PuPu and spinach. I know that may sounds gross but no matter how odd the food is, it is always good and I´m always left wanting more. After lunch everyone rests for a while. Hugo is always protesting a nap but eventually gives in. I´m not really used to taking a nap after lunch yet, so I´ll just read for a bit. When everyone is done with their petite nap we go back to work for a couple of hours. Dinner is served at some point in the evening and is pretty similar to lunch. After dinner I will read or write for a few hours and roll into bed.
So besides my everyday activities I´m sure some of you (well, dad at least) are curious to know how I´m doing personally. I´m good. Its kind of strange not having an ipod or a computer....or a television for that matter, but once they are gone you realize how distracting they are. I was pretty bored my first few days. The only ¨entertainment¨I have is my brain (strange thought, I know) and a couple of books that I´m zooming through. I´ve noticed that the French are always mentioning the importance of ¨having time for contemplation.¨ Well, scrubbing hundreds of soot-covered wooden boards by yourself for 7 hours a day is PLENTY of time for contemplation, believe me. I thought I was big on ¨thinking¨ before, now all I do is think; no distractions, just the sound of things clinking inside my head. I´m lucking I enjoy my own company. Its funny though, the more I think about things the more they start to make sense. Shocked?!?!? haha. I feel like my life in America is so noisy compared to here; I can´t imagine that I did much contemplating with T-Swift belting my ears off everyday.
The other day I went for a walk alonng the coastal cliffs with my favorite new companion Segue the sheep dog. It was warm and sunny for the first time since I had arrived; I just sat on the edge of this massive cliff that dropped straight down to the ocean and...I contemplated. With the wind blowing salty air all around my senses I couldn´t help but grin; I´m alone in France with nothing but my thoughts for company and life (somehow) is still sweet.