As usual I haven't updated in ages. Maybe one day, when I have my own laptop I'll actually update on a regular basis. For now, oh well! I'll update when I can.
That said, since my last update many things have happened. Beds have been made, beds have been stripped; laundry has been washed, dried and folded; unbelievable amounts of food have been purchased on a regular basis. I spent a day in Alès with Mimi, shopping and eating a delicious lunch.
I started running (read: speed walking/sprinting) and doing yoga on a regular basis.
There is a river running through town and a lovely paved promenade along it that is just the right length for someone who's just getting back to exercising, and it dead-ends at a bench with a nice wide space, beside a small waterfall. Just the right place to do yoga in the early morning.
I discovered some really fabulous graffiti on my running rout
Beth (Kitchen Manager) had a birthday and we celebrated with strawberry cake and champagne
I moved rooms again, and got three new room mates: Annie, Katie and Molly. Molly is only here until Friday, but I'll be sharing with Annie and Katie for the rest of my time here. I think. Annie arrived Thursday and Katie got here Saturday evening. On Saturday morning Mimi, Annie and I walked to Super U and Dia - the local grocery stores. We were originally planing pick up some snacks and Mimi just came for the sake of the walk. But while in Dia we discovered that they had créme de cassis and créme de pêche (berry and peach flavoured liquors, respectively) so we got a bottle of each and a couple bottles of perrier, and some cheese and on the way home picked up a couple baguettes at the local boulangerie and that evening after dinner we had a little party of our own upstairs.
We chatted for a while and sampled the different liquors, finding just the right ratio of liquor to perrier before watching "The Man Who Knew Too Little" with Bill Murray. If you ever want a wonderfully funny movie that will have you in absolute fits of laughter all the way through, watch "The Man Who Knew Too Little". The character thinks that he's spending an evening participating in an interactive TV show, when in fact he's involved in a rather complex plot intended to reignite the Cold War. It's absolutely brilliant.
But the big news - the really Big News - is this:
I got my hair cut!
It's so short now, and I love it so much. I've never been one to take, or post lots of selfies, but I can't resist these days (ok, I could. But I don't want to.)
It's such fun, and so much easier to deal with. Not to mention cooler on my neck! Annie cut it. She's been a hair dresser for nine years and she's pretty much the first hair dresser to cut my hair super short in such a way that I absolutely whole heartedly love it. In the past it's been longer in the back, and it looked really quite awful, but she cut it shorter in the back and longer in the front and it's perfect. Cool and easy, but still surprisingly versatile.
On a more introspective note: Having had seven room mates in the room I was in before taught me so much about myself! As has moving to a room with just three other girls. I love sharing with three, but with seven I almost went crazy. The worst part was that I really loved all the girls I was rooming with; but my introverted little self got so over stimulated on such a regular basis, that given half a chance all I wanted to do was crawl into bed, plug in my earbuds and escape into my own little world; because it was the only way I could hope to have any personal space. Plus, the seven girls I shared with were all on a team together. they had gone to DTS together for months before coming here, and they were all working on things together, and having team meetings and such. It was pretty lonely being the only non-team member. Of the girls I'm sharing with now one is a guest (leaving Friday) and the other two are mission builders, just like me. Katie was here for a little while a year ago, so she knows a couple of the staff here but isn't super close with anyone and although Annie met two of our staff while they were on a short term relief mission to Nepal (pray for Nepal!) she also isn't close with anyone. So there are no other relationships already in place for them to be busy with. I know that sounds horribly selfish of me - and maybe it is, but it's nice to just be friends with people without the drama or politics of anyone having to balance relationships. We're all room mates together, so we're all friends together. Why not? How else would it be? I'll be honest, it's very restful. It's a lot of fun to have people to drink créme de pêche with while watching a funny movie. It's especially nice to all fit on the couch and not have to worry about how everyone would be able to see. I like groups and big parties, I do. But I need down time between times to recharge. Living with big groups? That's very hard for me. And that's a good thing to know about myself.
That said, since my last update many things have happened. Beds have been made, beds have been stripped; laundry has been washed, dried and folded; unbelievable amounts of food have been purchased on a regular basis. I spent a day in Alès with Mimi, shopping and eating a delicious lunch.
I started running (read: speed walking/sprinting) and doing yoga on a regular basis.
There is a river running through town and a lovely paved promenade along it that is just the right length for someone who's just getting back to exercising, and it dead-ends at a bench with a nice wide space, beside a small waterfall. Just the right place to do yoga in the early morning.
I discovered some really fabulous graffiti on my running rout
Beth (Kitchen Manager) had a birthday and we celebrated with strawberry cake and champagne
I moved rooms again, and got three new room mates: Annie, Katie and Molly. Molly is only here until Friday, but I'll be sharing with Annie and Katie for the rest of my time here. I think. Annie arrived Thursday and Katie got here Saturday evening. On Saturday morning Mimi, Annie and I walked to Super U and Dia - the local grocery stores. We were originally planing pick up some snacks and Mimi just came for the sake of the walk. But while in Dia we discovered that they had créme de cassis and créme de pêche (berry and peach flavoured liquors, respectively) so we got a bottle of each and a couple bottles of perrier, and some cheese and on the way home picked up a couple baguettes at the local boulangerie and that evening after dinner we had a little party of our own upstairs.
We chatted for a while and sampled the different liquors, finding just the right ratio of liquor to perrier before watching "The Man Who Knew Too Little" with Bill Murray. If you ever want a wonderfully funny movie that will have you in absolute fits of laughter all the way through, watch "The Man Who Knew Too Little". The character thinks that he's spending an evening participating in an interactive TV show, when in fact he's involved in a rather complex plot intended to reignite the Cold War. It's absolutely brilliant.
But the big news - the really Big News - is this:
I got my hair cut!
It's so short now, and I love it so much. I've never been one to take, or post lots of selfies, but I can't resist these days (ok, I could. But I don't want to.)
On a more introspective note: Having had seven room mates in the room I was in before taught me so much about myself! As has moving to a room with just three other girls. I love sharing with three, but with seven I almost went crazy. The worst part was that I really loved all the girls I was rooming with; but my introverted little self got so over stimulated on such a regular basis, that given half a chance all I wanted to do was crawl into bed, plug in my earbuds and escape into my own little world; because it was the only way I could hope to have any personal space. Plus, the seven girls I shared with were all on a team together. they had gone to DTS together for months before coming here, and they were all working on things together, and having team meetings and such. It was pretty lonely being the only non-team member. Of the girls I'm sharing with now one is a guest (leaving Friday) and the other two are mission builders, just like me. Katie was here for a little while a year ago, so she knows a couple of the staff here but isn't super close with anyone and although Annie met two of our staff while they were on a short term relief mission to Nepal (pray for Nepal!) she also isn't close with anyone. So there are no other relationships already in place for them to be busy with. I know that sounds horribly selfish of me - and maybe it is, but it's nice to just be friends with people without the drama or politics of anyone having to balance relationships. We're all room mates together, so we're all friends together. Why not? How else would it be? I'll be honest, it's very restful. It's a lot of fun to have people to drink créme de pêche with while watching a funny movie. It's especially nice to all fit on the couch and not have to worry about how everyone would be able to see. I like groups and big parties, I do. But I need down time between times to recharge. Living with big groups? That's very hard for me. And that's a good thing to know about myself.
