La Fin Des Vacances

Not much has happened since my last post; I've just been hanging out. I won't be able to change my host family today, Friday, because AFS can't contact my new family until Monday due to them being on vacation, and it's necessary that they talk before I change. I spoke with the head of AFS in the French-speaking region on the phone and he said that once they talk on Monday I can change Tuesday or after, when it's good for the new family. So I will be changing sometime next week.

On Monday Claudine and Alicia came to get me to stay at their apartement until Thursday. We went grocery shopping to buy things to make pancakes because last week I told them that if they wanted I would be glad to make them. It was a bit hard to find buttermilk, but they actually do sell it here, as well as sirop d'érable, so they were authentic.

Tuesday we woke up around 7:30 to go to Les Bains de la Gruyère (Google it.) I had no idea what to expect when Claudine told me 'bring your bathing suit because we're going to a spa.' What I found out is that a spa in Switzerland is not necessarily super expensive and luxurious, it's open to the public and affordable for normal people who want to relax. We drove for 30 minutes up into the mountains and were the first people at the doors of the building, which opened at 9. We paid our entrance fees (19 Fr for 3 hours, quel bon marché!) and then changed into our swimsuits and put our clothes into lockers. After that we entered the spa.. there was an indoor heated pool and one outside, both with jets and places to sit or lay in the water, and a huge window with a view of the surrounding mountains. There was also a sauna and le hamman which is like a sauna but Turkish, I think. I found all of this very relaxing and am glad I got to go there.

Wednesday morning I made the pancakes and they were delicious, but they made me a bit homesick. In the afternoon Alicia and I went to Fribourg and I got my haircut. That evening it snowed a bunch, however the temperature is around 40°F so it's been melting since.

Thursday Alicia and I went to Fribourg again to help her Grandmother with her grocery shopping. Around 9:30 I came home but my host parents were already in bed so I haven't seen them.

Today I am going to Fribourg to see High School Musical 3 with Sakshi.. it was not my choice but that's okay, I could use some mindless entertainment today. It's also Halloween but here it's not really celebrated. People buy flowers to put on the graves of their loved ones.. in the grocery stores there are really small displays with Halloween-related items. Alicia told me that sometimes there is trick-or-treating within one's neighborhood or apartment building but it's not common. What's more celebrated is La Toussaint, which is la fête des tous les saints, or All Saints' Day. That's tomorrow, and basically all the stores are closed to recognize it.

Tomorrow and Sunday I have absolutely nothing planned. I have some homework that I have to do before school starts up again, but other than that I don't know what I'll do. And then Monday is school again.. I was afraid that vacation would pass terribly slowly but it actually went pretty fast. I am sort of looking forward to school but I think that's because I associate it with changing host families and not being bored.. as far as the work part goes, I could do without, but then that's life.

And now I have to go get ready to go to Fribourg with Sakshi, so ciao