Well, today was a lovely day. It started out a little rough, I won't lie to you, when I got up at 6:30. I was supposed to go to the Pyrenees today to go hiking, which I was super excited about. Upon getting up at 6:30, being driven by my kind host dad, and waiting in the bitterly cold, misting morning, the professor showed up. He lent us our shoes, we waited some more, and after about an hour, he told us that we would have to wait til next week. I couldn't get a clear answer as to why we couldn't go today; I think it was probably the weather in the mountains, or there weren't enough spaces on the bus.

Regardless, I got on the bus and rode the 39 minutes home (which really isn't as bad as it sounds). I started watching a movie, and about 10 I went downstairs and surprised my host mom and host sister, Caroline. They had invited me to go shopping with them this afternoon, and as I had planned on going to the mountains, I was sad to refuse. But since we didn't go hiking, I was glad to tell them I could go!
We had chili for lunch (which was really good), and we left after that. We went to a clothes store, a shoe store (where I bought the most beautiful pair of cream colored shoes), and to a mall with a lot of stores (where I bought socks. Woo hoo...) When we got to the mall, Caroline and I had hot chocolate and Claudie had a cup of tea. It was lovely. Very good bonding time.

Caroline is about to be 18 in a few months, and she'll get her driver's license. In France, you have to fill out a log of all your "accompanied driving" times, including how many kilometers, weather conditions, etc. So Caroline drove us today to practice in the rain. She did a wonderful job, really, because it's hard to learn to drive in France! It's a nerve-racking thing to learn anyway, just driving for real, but add to that the fact that they learn on manuals! Driving a stick shift in France is insane: these people drive like fools! It's ridiculous! So, not only are you 1) learning to drive 2) on a stick shift, but 3) the other drivers are maniacs! It's crazy. Brave Caroline and Paul... bravo.

I noted two interesting things today. 1). No dressing rooms have doors. They're all curtains. I don't think I really like that. /:
Also, when we were at the store, we came back outside, Caroline pulled out of the parking place and got in line to exit the parking lot. But, we realized that the cars in the middle of the aisle were actually parked there! Yes, middle of the aisle! My friend Mena has a picture of two cars parked at the university in the entrance to the parking lot. One car entrance- blocked by a parked car. Amazing. Oh, the French.