"Mass Confusion of the Little Mind"
Mood:  not sure
This weekend was a full one, with activities planned for each day... I like the weekends that way. Friday night was the birthday party for Eline (a girl in my class) and Adriana and I stayed there at the sall with a couple other people that night.

We had to be up early the next morning to do a "pie run" --> go to the boulangerie and get pastries to bring to adriana's first host families house. We ate breakfast with the Fayersons and then set out for Brussels with Adriana's first host mom to see the Exposition d'art at the art university where Marie works. I am one to make cute things... but when I go there and see beautiful, wonderful, amazing things, it really inspires me. ****poof**** look out: tracy is in artistic mode. eeeee. :p I have such an appreciation for art. I Love it. I want to run out and make things. No... not in Belgium... it is toooo expensive. :'( meeeeeeeehhhhh! I want to create things about frogs, sheep, and feet. lool! ;)

When I first got here, I was installed in an art class, but I didn't speak french very well and when they boosted me into the 11th grade, I had to drop it. I made one accomplishment while I was in there: a sketch of cliff from a photo I had. Adriana is keeping the sketch I drew of Cliff, when I first got here. It was a really great sketch ... but you know, sh!t happens. And she is giving me her big photo of her ex boyfriend also.. we are trading ex boyfriends, you see, because they both are just too beautiful (the photos) to throw away, but it hurts too much to appreciate them so we trade and now I can appreciate her beautiful ex boyfriend and she can enjoy mine! lol (dont ask :D)

And it just so happened that on Saturday (the day of the art expo.) it was also a huge manifestation in Brussels (The capital of Belgium, but also, more importantly, the capital of Europe (!!)) because they were protesting something. Me, being from the 'willy works of the world' had never ever seen anything like it in all of my upbringing... Adriana, though, was less than impressed. (Let me remind you, she is a Brazilian who is used to passing her time in Rio de Janeiro... can you say 'carnival' (!!!)) but for those less fortunate, like myself, it was a real sight to see; all the main roads were blocked off, police cars, vans, bikes, and such in hords at every corner, all the people marching down the streets with big flags and blaring loud music, chanting their protests. They just kept coming and kept coming... I didn't think it would ever end and I kept thinking that they were just going around the block and coming back around because I couldn't fathome the thought of a steady flow of so many people... (like in science class when they tell you space is infinite... no I will not believe it. Quantium physics style "light is lumpy"... c'mon I'm sure we can all relate) just honestly... Ive never seen anythingn like it. pfff lol et moi sans m' apperail de photo ou camera! merde alors!!!

Sunday I went to the most beautiful little village aupres de Namur... wow it was just incredible. There was a rotary meeting in Mozet (the pretty little villa) in a mini castle... there is a name for a mini castle: 'manoir' and I guess it was a bit of a retreit where certain students are asked to stay the whole weekend and talk with outbounds (students origionally from Belgium who are going to be exchange students) I was not one of the invited, therefore I only went on Sunday with my host family because Justine (my host sister) is going to be an outbound. (in Austrailia) AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE (((oi oi oi))) lol;)

But you know the sad thing is that I didn't even get any photos! I'm so torn about this. I must, absolutely must, go back. Get a video... something.

Yeah...I know, I know... * I experienced it and that is all that counts.* buuuut its good to put memories into pictures... share them in a way you can't share mental photos. You know, I saw the Buckingham Palace and didn't even take a photo!? Yeah so I saw it, but memories don't last forever. So now, I'm hoping mom is going to buy me a digital camera and send it back with the Fauquenoits. That would be ARCHIE COOL!!! ;) lol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

strong

I change host families next saturday.

And I'm home today.

St. Patties Day
Mood:  lucky
HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY EVERYONE!!!! No one wore green today and no one pinched anyone for not wearing green either... not very amusing...

thats all
-gros bisous

Spring time is finally here
Mood:  smelly
Spring time has finally arrived! (I say "finally" as if its June or something!) When in truth, it is super warm for a day in March. (when you read 'super'you have to think it like the french say it: 'souuuuupehhh' with the emphasis on the 'oup') Everyone came out of hiding and life way gay! :D!! Girls sporting t-shirts, tank tops, and skirts (actually the girls here wear skirts year round, mindless of the weather... I find myself saying "I wonder if she knows its cold out?" a lot) and guys without winter jackets; everyone eating icecream! Oh so great! It is funny because we had still some lingering snow on the ground, not more than 4 days ago. Then, as if someone threw a blanket over Belgium (check out Belgium on a map some time... my theory is that it is completly possible to blanket this country); it was spring time. The world just woke up one morning and flipped a switch; it was that dramatic.

And because today is Wednesday, school gets over at noon time and I got to go into town with Jana (pronounced Yana because it's German) to enjoy the beautiful weather. This is, sadly, her last week here in Belgium because she is only staying here for 3 months... and now her 3 months are drawing to an end... :( But I have to admit, that in the short time she has been here, her French has improved imensily. It has gotten 10 times better than when she first arrived. And that is, in essence, what she came here to learn. So bravo, Mission Accomplished!!

We made a tour around Liege, bought 2 waffles (with chocolate... oooOOOooo trop bon!!! ;D)I talked Jana into getting a piercing at StevePiercing (I am such a bad influence, I know; I'm not denying it... I'll be the first to admit it, actually!) She got that nub pierced that attaches your eat and the side of your face. then went for icecream! While we were eating our icecream a super hot guy came up to us and asked us where we bought it but of coarse as soon as a hot guy starts to talk to me, I forget all of my french. I mean... I could have said that it was too hard for me to explain but that we would show him because he's hott and we are exceptionally nice to hot guys... but alas, I didn't have the capacity... my vocabulary is shot when a cute guy enters the vacinity. pfff. lol :p c'est pas grave.

As we were finishing up with the icecream, Adriana comes out of no wheres, saying she was looking for Gustavo, but couldn't find him. So we compromised and went to EXPO to find a super
cute card for her brother back in Brazil who is turning... 16? maybe? While we were looking around there, we spotted Lewis, an exchange student from Venezuela and then Finn called. I went to the Corr to search for him and then brought him back to the center of Liege where Jana, Adriana, and Lewis were. We bee bopped around there for a bit, soaking up the sunshine (such a rare sight in Belgium... I have to stress this) Jana left around 4 and when we walked her to her bus stop we met up with two other girls from rotary. (one brazilian and one from... I forget where, but she speaks Spanish) so Adriana stepped aside and talked with the girl from Brazil in portuguese, Lewis was on my other side, talking to the other girl in Spanish, and Finn and I are in the middle, comparing lip gloss in English. Yes, we were a sight to see!! ;)

I had to leave at 5, but before I caught my bus home, our mini hord stopped in at FNAC (like a European version of Borders) so Adriana could see the price of the book, "Da Vinchi Code" a super good book that I am thinking about buying in French too. From there, we were not far from Delhaze (a supermarket) so Adriana, Finn, and I all went to Delhaze where Adriana picked up chocolate to send to her aunt in Portugal and then we made little sticker photos in the machine outside of the store!! Too cute! Check it out in my "And Ends" album. Its the one in black and white of Adriana, Finn and me! :D

Ok thats it... then I took the bus home!

And if you are curious about my last post on the 13th... no my host mom did not let me stay home on Monday! :( lol I will survive...

Tuesday night we ate couscous!! I was so excited to start eating, that I didn't wait for it to cool enough and burnt the tip of my tongue... then couldn't taste any thing for the rest of the meal!! yes... bravo... :p i know it!

Ok I'm pretty sure that is all the super cool things that I've done since the last time I wrote.

-ciao!

"There's got to be something better than in the middle"
Mood:  lyrical

^j'essaye a ajoute un photo de toutes les filles a chez Fauquenoit, mais c'est compliment impossible!!! arrggeee!


C'est tout de les chantages. Ma maman, elle me demande tout le temps comment ca va? si je suis malade, et si 'oui' si je veux prendre du medicamo... mon reponse est: si je dis 'oui' tu va me lasser a domicile demain? :) lol! Je ne veux pas aller a l'ecole demain, vraiment. J'espere que j'ai un semain de l'ecole et apres c'est vacance mais les gens me dit que j'ai encore deux semain... ca n'est pas bon pour moi et j'ai deja declare a ma maman que si ca cest mon programme, pour moi, mon vacance va commence en 1 semaine.... lol je suis une rebele!!! (?sp)

Mon weekend, c'etait tres bien... fatiguent (meme que je n'ai fait rien... bon, je suis malade) mais bon tout le meme. J'ai vu Thais et Meghan (deux filles super sympa et gentille!!) et je vais ajouter les photos de toutes les filles quand Pascal Fauquenoit me les envoye. Thais, elle est la depuis 2 mois mais son francais est deja incroyable!! vachement!! Je veux remercier la famille Fauquenoit pour prendre ma valise gigantique!! Et pour tout les choses tres genereux de cette famille, ils sont vraiment geniales!!

Humm je sens que je manque quelque chose mais il n'arrive pas quoi...

Ok, regardez mes photos, s'il vous plait, parce que j'ai ajoute du photos de mon anniversaire!!

Samedi soir ma famille a mange le couscous sans moi!!! ahhh je suis tressss triste de ca!! J'adore le couscous, vachement!! (ca nest pas quoi j'ai oublie dire, mais en tout facon, cest important pour moi!!) Je garde le couscous pres a mon coeur.

Ah hah, ok je souvien le truc que je recherche! Quand j'etait chez Fauquenoit, j'ai parle avec Jodi, la maman de mon ex copain! Ca me fait super content parce que je n'ai pas parle plus avec elle depuis noel (c'est vrai que j'ai recu et envoye les lettres mais cest pas le meme quand vous parlez avec un person sur le telephone) et apres elle me passe Melanie, la petite soeur de Clifford, et jai parle avec elle aussi!!!! Ahhh elles me manquent bcp!!! Le raison que j'ai appelle etait pour chanter "joyeux anniversaire" en francais mais il n'etais pas la et quand je esseyais a appelle chez Sue et George, son GSM etait fermer... pfff. Tant pis.

et voila
------------------------------
I'm trying to put a photo of the girls at the Fauquenoit's house but it isn't working!!


--> its all about the blackmail! My host mom is always asking me "how are you? do you need anything? do you want to take some asprin?" I answer her: If I say yes, will you let me stay home from school tomorrow? Vraiment I do not want to return to school. It seems like such a waste of time to me. When I talked to Meghan (the girl staying at the Fauquenoits house who was an exchange student 3 years ago) she told me about how great her situation was in school and comparing it to mine, I'm really not set up in a way that is benefiting me very much. I do learn so much more when I'm home with my host mom. I think I only have one more week of school, then its vacation for me... but someone told me that I'd have two weeks... whatever the case, I've already made up my mind that my vacation starts in one week, regardless of everyone elses schedules! :D Rebel; I am!

My vacation went over well... tiring (despite that I didn't do anything strenous (sp?)but I was sick so thats the difference.) I got to meet both Thais and Meghan (two really great gals) and Thais' french is incredible after only being there for 2 months she can understand practicly everything and can make sentences and all! I'm impressed! I'll add photos of that when Pascal gets them sent to me.
And I would like to thank the fauquenoit family for taking my huge suitcase with them and for everything else they have done for me, they are truely a godsend for me!

Hum I seem to be missing something but I can't figure out what...

Ok well check out my photos "odds and ends" because ive added some photos there of my birthday.

Saturday night my family ate couscous without me!! I'm crushed! I love couscous more than anything else in the world... well maybe mom and gram come before couscous... but not much else. (thats not what Ive forgotten but its still important to me so I'll write about it anywyas :p) PASTA will never break my heart (couscous included)

ooOOOooo ok I remember now what I wanted to say! This morning I called Jodi, cliffs mom to sing happy birthday to Dustin. He wasn't there but I got to talk to Jodi and Melanie! Oh I'm tooooo happy about that, really! I haven't talked to her (yeah the occasional letter swap and such, maybe) but not on the telephone, since christmas!! I tried calling George and Sue's cellphone but it was turned off so... tant pis :/ I tried.

Bonjour, tu peux parler en francais?
Mood:  chatty


FUEL - Shimmer Lyrics

She calls me from the cold
Just when I was low,
feeling short of stable
And all that she intends
And all she keeps inside,
isn't on the label

She says she's ashamed
And can she take me for awhile
And can I be a friend,
we'll forget the past
But maybe I'm not able
And I break at the bend

We're here and now,
but will we ever be again
'Cause I have found
All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade
Away again

She dreams a champagne dream
Strawberry surprise,
pink linen and white paper
Lavender and cream
Fields of butterflies,
reality escapes her

She says that love is for fools who fall behind
And I'm somewhere in between
I never really know
A killer from a savior
'Til I break at the bend

It's too far away for me to hold
It's too far away...
Guess I'll let it go
---------------------------------
Voici est mon chanson prefere! (ca c'est juste un, en effet, j'ai beaucoup)
Anything- Simple Plan
Why Don't You and I - Santana
One Headlight- The Wallflowers
Bad Day- Danial Powter
et plein des autres...

Je suis toujours malade. J'ai reste chez moi pendant tout cette semaine. Je tousse tout le temps et je crois que j'ai donne mon rhume a ma famille! Aujourd hui, Yasmine, elle reste ici avec moi. Je dor beaucoup mais j'ai finalement trouve les temps pour finir mon livre pour Francais 2h. (La Seconde Vie d'Abram Potz) Trop bizzar!

Quand je reste chez moi j'apprends plus de francais que quand je vais a l'ecole. lol c'est vrai. C'est parce que ma maman, elle parle beaucoup avec moi et quand je fais un erreur (et je fais plein des erreurs) elle me corrige mais a l'ecole personne me corrige et aussi, je ne parle pas beaucoup. Plusier fois, je me suis assie et j'entende a le prof, mais normalement, je ne fais rien a l'ecole... c'est comme ca. pfff. Malhereusement, je dois retourner a l'ecole, lundi prochain et j'y vais pendant 2 semains et apres, c'est la vacance de PAX!!

Je ne sais pas quoi je fairai pour la vacance de PAX. Tout ma famille va partir. (mon pere d'acceuil a Chine, ma maman d'acceuil a Paris, ma soeur, Justine, a Grece, et Yasmine va rester ici pour etudier) je ne peux pas donc rester ici, mais ma troisieme famille va partir pendant PAX aussi... meme la famille Steltzner en Allemagne... meme la famille Dor... umm... ca n'est pas bon pour moi... meme la famille Fauquenoit. non, je crois pas. pffff qu'est ce que je vais faire!? Ca va, j'ai encore deux semain. Je vais demander la premiere famille de adriana si elle voudrais m'acceuiller.

Cet weekened je vais aller pour voir la famille Fauquenoit et rester la samedi soir. Je rencontrai Thais (l' eleve d'echange qu' habite chez Fauquenoit de Brazil) et Meghan (?) aussi je crois. (peut-etre pas Meghan parce qu' elle travaille maintenent dans un universite en France et je ne sais pas si elle a les temps pour me voir)

Et le weekend apres ca, je vais aller avec la premiere maman d'acceuil d'Adriana pour voir un presentation d'art a l'universite lequel elle est une professur. (Ca c'est Samedi) Et Dimanche, ma soeur, Justine, elle a un 'pique-nique' avec rotary, qu' en effet, n'est pas un pique-nique vraiment, mais, c'est un... je ne sais pas quoi pendant tout le jour et moi et ma maman (?) vont l'aller aussi.

Adriana, la pouvre, elle a toujours le phenomie (phenomenie (?)) qu' elle a retrappe depuis elle a retourne de Portugal. Elle n'etait pas a l'ecole pour tout la semaine non plus...

**pfff la vie d'un eleve d'echange, c'est difficile!**

-----------------------------
Ok now I'll translate for 1. those of you who can't speak french (which is most of the people who read this) and 2. for those of you who do speak french but who can't understand what I've written due to sooo many errers!! :)

--> I've been sick this entire week! I have not gone to school once! (Monday was a Teachers workshop thing or 'Conge' if you will, and no one went to school) and then Tuesday, MY BIRTHDAY!! I became sick, like I've already written about in my last entry, and it hasn't gotten any better since. But its given me time to catch up on some sleep and find time to finish my book for French 2h (A french course I take for 2 hours a week) I just read La Seconde Vie d'Abram Potz... it was so wierd.

This is fine because I learn more french when I stay home sick than when I go to school. My host mom is intensivly teaching me french. I think I've learned so much since Tuesday! We talk all day and every time I make a mistake she corrects me but at school, well for one thing I don't talk all day; non, that is the teachers job. Usually I just sit and listen to them talk... or maybe just sit and pretent to listen to them talk... and sometimes I don't even pretend. And when I do talk, no one corrects my mistakes (and I make a lot of mistakes) so how am I supposed to learn from that?

So Monday its back to school for me, sadely... but then 2 weeks of school and then PAX vacation. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do 4 that because my family won't be here (my host dad works in China, my host mom is going to Paris, my host sister (Justine) to Greece with her senior class, and Yasmine is staying here to study) My third host family isnt available to take me early because they are also going on vacation... as is Heike's family, as is the Dor family... as is the Fauquenoit family. I have no idea, really, what I'm going to do! Maybe I'll ask Adriana's first host family if they want to host me for 2 weeks or so.

so this weekend I'm going to the Fauquenoit's house and staying there Saturday night. I will finally get to meet Thais (the exchange student they are hosting from Brazil) and Meghan (an exchange student that they hosted 2 or 3 years ago who has come back to visit) (?) or maybe not Meghan because she is staying right now in a university in France where she is studying so I don't know if she will have time to see me.

And the weekend after that I'm going to an art presentation on Saturday with the ex-host mom of Adriana at the college she works at. Then for sunday, my host sister, Justine, has a rotary pik-nik (pick-nick (?) pique-nique (?))lol that she has to attend and I'm going along also since its rotary.

Adriana, the poor thing, has pnemonia (sp?) again. She had it before, when she went to Portugal (hense why she had to stay an extra week) and now that shes back she has caught it again!

ahh **its hard being an exchange student**

I've been hearing a lot from Cliff lately. He's talking about coming to see me in May. I don't know if that will work but he gets some sort of crazy Navy discount on practicly everything so I don't know... maybe. C'est un reve. And when I get back to America, maybe I'll brave the fact that I'm a red head, grab some extra bottles of sun screan and go visit him. While I was on the phone with him, he passed me off to one of his friends and said "speak french to him"
me-bonjour, tu peux parler en francais?
kid- ...
me- allo? tu es la?
kid- (to clifford) wow thats wierd man
me- ... passe-moi mon ex copain s'il te plait

lol, ok... and then I went downstairs and randomly handed the phone to my host mom, who started, immediatly, talking to clifford in French... then she stopped and listened for a second. (I'm pretty sure she got the same response from him that I got from that kid I didn't know) she just laughed and handed the phone back to me. Poor cliff was not understanding anything, but he said that he was bound and determined to learn french, so that someday we can talk together in french. You know, it isnt just something that you wake up one day and know... it takes a long time and a lot of dedication... practice... effort. Believe you me! But I admire his ambition to even want to learn French because when I first came here I told him that I would teach him french and he wasn't so kean on the idea.

Ok thats all for now.

-ciao