Bonjour!

First of all, yes I am fine. If you have no idea what I am talking about- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/europe/mohammed-merah-toulouse-shooting-suspect-french-police-standoff.html?scp=8&sq=toulouse&st=cse

The past few weeks have been really busy and really fun! I have been able to understand more, my speaking has improved immensely (not really the accent but my formulation of ideas), and I finally feel completely settled in and comfortable.

School:

School is still challenging but I am enjoying it more than I did in the beginning. Here once you become a junior you choose a track. They are L (literature and languages), ES (economic and social), and S (Science and math). I am in L so I have been learning a lot about French writing! Another difference is that I have a block schedule here, which means each day I have different classes. This is really nice because not everything is due the next day and I don't get bored my having the same schedule all the time. They also have 15 minute breaks throughout the day and an hour and a half lunch period! At lunch I eat at school but on Wednesdays and Thursday I eat at home. Wednesday everyone eats at home because it is a half day. Thursday I have two hours of class and then nothing so I get to return for lunch and to relax! My schedule for the week is as follows: W1 stands for week one and W2 stands for week two.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	French	French	Math	W1 : Math W2 : nothing
	English	French	W1 : English W2 : Math	French
Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
English Literature	Science	English		French
French	Science	History		W1 : nothing W2 : French
Lunch at school	Lunch at school	History	Lunch at home	Lunch at school
French	French		Philosophy	Geography
French	Math		English Literature	Geography
Break	Break		Break	Break
	Gym		English History
	Gym

Family:

I love my host family! They are very nice and have helped me with my french so much. I especially love all the traditions here. Saturday for lunch we always go to a restaurant and Sunday dinners are always pasta in front of the TV. This Saturday we went to a cute little restaurant downtown and I had a tomato salad which was sooooo amazing. Some Saturdays we go to McDonald's! McDonald's here is much better than in the states (probably healthier also). Last time we went I had a goat cheese wrap, salad and a Caramel Sundae.
This Friday is Léa's fourteenth birthday so I am going to try to make a card and go into centre ville to buy something for her. I wont get to be with her on her birthday because my host family is going to Amsterdam for my host moms work conference but we will celebrate it when they return!

That's it for now but I will update again soon!