Griffin Family

6/30/86 Monday Another day has quickly slipped away.  Today we went to get fuel for the car.  Afterwards we stopped at the drug store.  I am feeling much better. I went to the pool. It is really nice.  It costs 9F to get in.  Not bad.  I think I would do okay if I wasn't so shy.  I really hate that! I made a funny mistake at the pool.  There are these little baskets where you put your things and they are numbered.  I had 195 but I wrote down how you say 185.  It was kind of amusing.  The attendant was laughing.  The next time I came back he remembered my number!  I suppose he knows me now.  One friend! I wrote 5 more letters today.  I probably won't send them until I get some post cards then I will send everything at once.  I think I like it here! Bon Soir! Oh yea, Tonya called.  She is one of the girls from AFS. We roomed together in New York. She says we are going to get together and visit ...

I don't  where the days go. Today, once again I stayed home all day.  A friend of hers, Steven, came over.  He is working on becoming a lawyer.  We talked for 1 or 2 hours.  He was very nice.  The most normal of her friends yet.  He is 23. Also Gerome's mom came over and I listened to them talk for almost an hour.  I really like her even though I don't understand a word she says. Sometimes I can pick up most of what is said but I don't have the vocabulary to say anything back. My allergies are going absolutely nuts because of the animals and the smoke.  I used almost 1/2 box of tissues.  Colette is concerned but I'm not sure what she wants to do because whatever she says doesn't make sense. I've been watching TV some and can make out many of the words.  Sometimes I think of things in my head and can translate some of it to French.  The words I don't know I look up. I wrote out a few pages of essential lines and I've bee...

Saturday, June 28, 1986 I didn't sleep well last night.  My asthma and allergies began acting up.  Probably from the smoke.  The man's name is Decide -- like decided . He says that hash is good because the fire you see while burning your brain cells is exciting.  He is a very strange man.  He makes colleges that explain what he thinks unconsciously.  They tell a story from his head.  I think he is very weird. Today I am beginning to feel homesick and I am not doing well with French.  They all speak so quickly and I say pardon and they repeat it in English.  It is hard.  There is no one around my age to talk to and I feel very uneasy.  It just might be because I am not feeling well.  It is also very hot.  They have no screens here so there are many bugs everywhere.  I had raw fish for lunch today.  I had about 3 bites.  Enough to make it look like I ate something.  This is the 3rd meal I haven't ea...

Friday, June 27, 1986 I had a really nice day today.  We went to the bank and the post office.  I sent my 5 letters.  It cost about 20F.  Then we picked up some real French pasterie -- ooh lala! Tres bien! After lunch Colette took me to Jerome's house.  She went where ever and Jerome's mom took us to Monge and we went shopping.  She took care of something else and we walked all through the town and he explained everything. It was interesting because he has shaky English and I am awful at French.  It was fun though. We were late getting back but his mom didn't mind. The town was really neat.  Shops everywhere with a cathedral in the center.  It was a little scary because here people drive on the sidewalks.  So you have to watch out!!!  He took me in the Cathedral and the garden.  It was really pretty. It was cool inside the Cathedral.  We went back to his house and he showed me his stamp collection and army models. ...

Thursday, June 26, 1986 Another day has gone by and once again I can't figure out where it went. I met Charlotte, my host mom for the summer.  She is very nice and thank goodness she knows a little English.  I am doing awful with this French stuff. Charlotte lives 1/2 hour outside of Paris in a beautiful little town in the country.  There is flowers and grass everywhere and miles of countryside.  The town has a few houses all next to one another with lots of trees in between each to separate them.  It is pretty hot but tolerable. I have a bedroom on the second floor in an attic type area.  There is a little patio by my bed that looks out across the countryside.  I also have my own little sink, no toilet, for washing up. There is a study connecting to my room and I have a little TV. Downstairs is very extravagant yet simple.  Everything is very old. Antique or something.  There is a cherry tree in the back yard so that is all I've be...

Wednesday June 25, 1986 We've had lots of meetings that are supposed to help us when we get out on our own. We are at CREPS in Reins, about 2 hours from Paris. The toilets and showers here are weird.  The flusher is on the top of the toilet and the water comes splashing out.  The bathrooms here are always left shut and you can tell if someone is in there by the color of the lock on the door. It is improper to put your hands under the table.  Everyone always puts their bread on the table, not the plate and you only use butter at breakfast.  Bread is served at every meal. Oh yea, last night some guy was running through the halls in a towel.  When he got to the window he jumped up and yelled "Bonjour!" and flashed us.  Then he said hello girls, I want to sleep with you this night.  Then he ran away.  It was pretty funny. I got my host papers today.  I am staying with a 50 year old woman named Charlotte.  She has a big house 1/2 ...

Tuesday, June 24, 1986 I think I got 2 hours of sleep since I last wrote.  It is 4 p.m. in France. We had to wait in the airport from 10-4. YUK!  I think the only thing I want right now is something to drink and SLEEP! I still don't know where I am going. Before I go home I want to get some French magazines.  I want to write home and ask mom to send chocolate chips (they don't have them) and lots of recipes.  It is much cooler than I expected.  60 degrees, no humidity and breezy. The money system totally blows my find.  About 7 francs = $1.  It doesn't compute easily in my head but it means a coke here is about $1.20 for a small glass.  Unreal! I am going to take a snooze now because we have a 2 hour drive to orientation.

Today was a real learning experience.  We had some more classes on being an American and what it means. I'm find out that the only way to really get the most of something is to be myself and talk.  That is the hardest.  I'm definitely too shy!  Joel told me I gotta learn to speak up -- he is so right! It really is hard to get used to being away.  I miss everything a lot.  I am always thing about them.  I guess as soon as I feel more comfortable away I'll feel less homesick. My roommate is really nice.  Samantha from Kansas City. I'm on the airplane to Paris now.  I can't believe I'm actually going through with this.  The plane is going at 33,000 ft.  We are over Boston right now.  We will arrive in France at 10:30.  We took off at 9:30 or so.  I really don't feel like I'm doing this. I'm getting exposed to French slowly but I don't understand any of it! I still haven't received my papers yet so I know absolu...

6/22/86 Sunday I guess I was wrong.  I couldn't hold back the tears and not cry in front of everybody!  When I went to Linda's house yesterday to drop off my address Joe was there.  I couldn't help it - the tears fell.  He was a great help but I only saw him for a couple of minutes. Then we said goodbye.  He promised he would write.  I sure hope he does! The cry was good because I was fine saying goodbye to all the neighbors and Rob and Tammy.  We drove up to CW Post -- the longest hottest awfullest ride I've taken in awhile!  It was a bit less then fun.  When we finally got here I had a miserable tension headache and pressured ears and I had to cry again. I said goodbye and have kind of withdrawn from all activity since then.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better.  I did meet a few people though. Oh yeah, another thing that happened yesterday, I took the car out and it died while I was at the meat store.  Overheated. ...

Tomorrow I leave for my trip to France.  I got a family name, address and phone # but that's all.  I can't find the city on a map so right now all I can do is guess. I have a feeling I will have a family with small children on a farm.  I don't know why, maybe because I can't find the city on a map -- so it must be small! As for leaving I still don't believe it and I'm not excited. I don't know when it will hit me but right now I just feel numb about everything.  I have a lot of packing to do, getting money, saying goodbye, getting rid of my uniform, etc.  Write more later!