Nostalgique (homesick), and Palefrenier

These last couple days have been hard.

I'm concentrating so hard on pronunciation, comprehension, and vocabulary that I'm exhausted at the end of the day. I miss being at home with my boy, my bunny, and my family. I was up incredibly late last night talking with Jason on Skype, and I was incredibly tired today. I went to a Scout meeting to organize out ski trip this weekend, but I barely participated. I could barely keep up with the conversation! I'm having a rough time. To make things easier for me, Fred and Mathilde tried to speak english with me tonight, but that just made matters worse because they'd speak in french when they didn't know a word, and my brain had to work incredibly hard to bounce back and forth. This is way harder than I thought it would be.

This endeavour has been incredibly humbling. I don't know much of anything. I need maps (today I carried - and used - three) to get around. I have no idea where things are. I have trouble carrying on a conversation. Yes, this is an incredible opportunity to grow and expand my horizons, but it's scary as hell. My adventuring is helping break me out of my self-imposed shell, and people here are very nice. I need to focus on the positives, because the negatives at times are overwhelming.

On a brighter note...

The Scouts here have a part of their program that teaches them about folklore. Each year the leaders choose an old story that they tell all year round. The leaders play various characters, and each meeting they dress up and act out a new part of the story, underlining the cardinal values of Scouting. It all seems very cool and involved. This year they are doing Robin Hood. This weekend, we are going to do a murder mystery. A soldier is found dead, a bloody sword in the snow and bootprints all around. Whodunnit?! I get to play Palefrenier, the stablehand (and Robin Hood's cousin) from Canada. I have a costume, belt, and a sweet hat. I can't wait  for you to see the pictures I'll take this weekend!

I'm spending the next day and a bit making an enormous puzzle map of Canada that the kids will learn to put together. That should keep me busy. Pictures to follow. If the kids do well, I get to give them a clue that will help them solve the mystery. Between you and me, it was Prince John dressed as countryfolk. I saw him take the sword from the stable while I was having illicit relations with the blacksmith. Ooh, scandal! :)

This weekend is going to be a lot of fun (I hope). I'm skiing with Mathilde, a girl younger than me with an accent that sounds like she has a mouth full of marbles, and 2 kids. Not bad. Hopefully we have lots of snow. I'm sure we'll have a blast.

It's late, and I have a full couple days coming up.

À bientôt!