Today is Friday which means I only have three days left with my wonderful host family. But before I start telling you about my goodbyes I should probably update you on what's been happening this week.
Tuesday: It was an indecently hot day and of course we spent the day walking around. My group and several French siblings attended le Mariage de Figaro, an opera. I thoroughly enjoyed this play, it was funny, energetic, the singing was beautiful, and the whole cast seemed to be experienced acrobats. My enjoyment was only lessened by the sweltering theatre. The entire audience seemed to flutter like a cloud of butterflies because they were all furiously fanning themselves. We had the chance to talk to a few of the cast members afterwards and were dismayed when they recommended not doing a play in another language because it is very difficult and doesn't leave a margine for error. If a company of skilled and professional actors thinks it difficult, how is a group of American teenagers with a slippery grasp of the language going to do it?
Wednesday: we had another mime class! Always a good time, especially in a shady park. We all had to line up like we were standing at an intersection and mime watching different types of people walking. Once that was over we headed into town to see a Molière play called Les Fourberies de Scapin, which translates as The Deciets of Scapin. I didn't really like it, but it was very hot in the theatre, my back was killing me in the little plastic seats, and their use of the fog machine was making me cough. It was an amazing piece of theatre, there was a crane on stage through the whole story and the main character, Scapin, swung and climbed on it like a monkey. In the end when all the actors came out and took of their masks we were stunned to see that there were only six actor in the whole thing, meaning the people playing the Scapin's( there were two for comedic affect) had also played two separate characters, the man playing the miser had also played a young man, and the women playing Hyescinth also played Sylvester. I doesn't matter of you don't know the characters but this was very impressive because half of these characters were on stilts and the other half wer climbing and jumping around the stage non stop. How they all did this on a hot day in masks and full costumes still mystifies me.
Thursday: another very hot day, this wasn't the best week to be spent walking around crowded streets and sitting in old buildings with no fans but we make the best of it. Yet another mime class, which I am actually finding very useful. One problem I have in theatre is that I forget to be big enough, on the stage you have to make every movement large and expressive, and mime really helps with that. After that we had a thrilling round of Party Quirks where Sadie turned out to be Kirk Cobain, if you ever meet Sadie you will realize this is not a surprise, and Amy had to be one of those robotic vacum cleaners that ends buying into the wall for half an hour then telling you floor is clean. We all went into town and saw our own mime professor's show, Monologue with a Suitcase, which was his own story of coming to Paris from Bulgaria and was very engrossing. It was funny and silly to begin with, then sad when the familiar rejection that comes with auditioning entered the story. All in all I liked it. When I returned home Etienne( my host brother who I might not have mentioned but he arrived on Monday from Spain and is lovely like the rest of the Daries family), Valentine and I played French pictionarry and then that game where everyone has a post it with someone's name on their forehead and they have to figure out who they are. Then Alice got home and we played a couple more rounds all together. I really love haveing siblings, especially these siblings. Valentine is a bit of a typical teenager but I feel like underneath she has a warrior in her, shes loving, and by no means stupid. Alice is clever, funny and doesn't seem to spend a moment thinking about what she looks like but is still gorgeous. Etienne is smart, very sweet, and really helped me out with French vocabulary. They all fight with each other but I could tell any of them would take a bullet for the other. I just wish they were my real siblings.
Friday: woke up feeling very low. By the time I woke up Etienne had left for London to see his girlfriend and Alice was packing her bags to go to the seaside. I also had a bad case of homesickness but it was still the middle of the night in California so I couldn't call my parents. Went in to town with Alice and Valentine to meet up with my group and then had to say goodbye to Alice. She won't be back in time to see me off back to Paris and I had to try very hard not to cry. To my chagrin we had an Avignon scavenger hunt. The way the day was going and after the unhappy conclusion of the last hunt I didn't feel like doing this at all but I met with my team and we managed to get our questions done very quickly. I passed the rest of the daylight hours in my own head, staying aware enough not to lose sight of anyone, but firmly intrenched in my own thoughts and daydreams. All I wanted to do was go back to the house and Skype my parents, instead I ended up riding the ferris wheel and feeling nauseated. That evening we went to see a play inside a large circus tent in a neighboring field. The play was called Indian Tempest, and was in fact the Tempest with Indian elements to it. I was still in a fowl mood but the pay was so good that I actually felt alright but the time we left. I hadn't thought about that aspect of theatre, that a good play can actually lift a person from a fowl mood. The evening continued to get better when I returned home and was able to talk to my parents for the first time in days.
Today: Happy Prise de la Bastille day! Overall a pretty good day. Slept in. Did some shopping in Avignon, then sat on the banks of the Rhone river to watch the fireworks, which were amazing since they were going off right across the river. Had to walk home but once valentine and I slid I through the crowds of peopl the walk home was quite nice, especially the castles.
Now, my dear readers, I'm afraid I must retire. Tomorrow I have cookies to bake and a farewell song to sing. My parting words tonight are, it's wonderful thing to have a family that loves you.
Sincerely,
Drama Queen
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