Allo?

I finally got a hold of my host family today! I tried to call them yesterday, but they weren't home. So, this afternoon, I tried again...and my host mom, Madame de Pommary, answered. Now, this phone call was positively terrifying because she was speaking in really fast French and I was trying to translate everything in my head, which wasn't moving quite as fast. She seems nice. She was definitely patient with me on the phone, since it seemed like the majority of what I said was "Je ne comprends pas" (I don't understand) or "Oui" (Yes).

So, from the conversation with her, I gathered that my host family does not have Internet (sad day for me), has five kids (ranging in age from 3 to 27!), and she will be at home when I arrive Monday morning (or lundi matin, as she repeated many a time in the conversation!). I felt silly because I only used the present and future tenses while talking to her because I couldn't think to conjugate and translate simultaneously...but I don't think the family speaks much English, so I should be speaking French like a champion by the time I get home!

Tonight, I've been packing my travel backpack, rolling all of my clothes to save space and reduce wrinkles. I'm trying to pack as lightly as possible, but that's proving to be an interesting challenge! I'm not good at packing lightly!

I can't believe I'm leaving in 5 days...wow...

Riley =)