Brie (comme le fromage).

Today has been relaxing.

I adore the weather here. Last few days have been chilly (but not too cold) and rainy. When I return to the states in July, I'll be in weather shock from the hot humidity of Iowa.

I walked downtown after class today with a friend. I led the way, and we didn't get lost! As in I actually knew where I was going! My friend, Cassandra, wanted to visit one of her french friends who works at a salon, and she got turned around trying to find it. Grabbing the map from her, I figured out where we were and found the little hair salon. The women working there cracked me up. There were two middle aged women, and they reminded me so much of my mom and her friends: loud and giggly, like teenagers. One of them even told me "dans mon coeur, j'ai 20 ans!" (In my heart, I'm 20 years old!) Their accents are little difficult to understand. Southern and Parisian accents really are different, and I think my host mom's southern accent gave me difficulties in the beginning.

We hung out at the salon for awhile and drank coffee with the ladies. Cassandra's friend, Muriel, was super cute and tiny with a short bob hair cut. She's going to cut my hair next Tuesday! My first french haircut! The experience will be interesting because she doesn't know much english, her accent is a little different, and I don't know any vocab for haircuts. Hopefully I'll like it.

Tonight for dinner, I bought some fresh, yes fresh, smoked salmon and ate it with rice. I peppered the salmon a smidgen, and it was so yummy. Fresh here has an entirely different connotation for me than fresh in the states. How will I ever be able to go back to my land locked Iowa, which lacks all the fresh fruit and seafood I get to eat here? And bread. Still eating it with about every meal. Haven't gained any weight. People in the states are crazy for trying to cut carbs. Europeans know what they're doing: small breakfast, bigger lunch, and a large dinner. No snacks and exercise. Glass of red wine every night. Here, cheese, fruit, and yogurt are considered dessert. I'm eating raspberries as I write this with a glass of red wine from Bordeaux that I bought for 3 euros.

Cheese tasting tomorrow for the USAC kids. I'm pumped.

p.s. French people are so confused when I tell them my name. I've been going by Bree here because most french people really struggle with Breona. I'm assuming that name isn't one they hear everday, and I seriously think their first thought is cheese: why would anyone name their child after cheese? That would be like calling someone Roquefort.