Le BOOM Etait Un Sucèss! (The BOOM Was A Success!)

Hello hello! I survived my first BOOM! (Details later!)

First, I have to tell you all...THANK YOU FOR POSTING!! I feel more connected (and sadder) when I read your comments. I miss you all so much and wish I could talk to you daily. Here are your rewards for posting:

*Mom, please don't guilt anyone into reading my blog anymore. I still love you. Kahuna is from Chicago and he is so funny and GREAT with the kids. He looks like a bigger version of Chris Matt. Great guy. As for the skits, they are all specific for the theme of the day...this week, we had Thanksgiving Day, Wild West Day, and Olympic Day. The food and activities are all themed as well (Wild West Day we have chili and tacos, etc). So, yes, these skits are repeated at every site, but vary depending on who narrates and what people add. Thanks for the package again! I love you and miss you!

*Niki, you are funny! I am thinking about you all time while I play Drip, Drip, Drop and supervise relays (which was all damn day today) with the kids. I hope Erin is not crampin your style! Ha, ha!

*Andra, I am so happy to hear from you! I'm glad you like the poop stories...I thought specifically of you when typing them. Hope you've been regular. :)

*Jane, thanks for reading! I was wondering if I was going to hear from you anytime soon. I miss you and wish I could be there when the baby is born! Let me know as soon as you can! Thanks for your clever use of my infamous word - friggin - and your well wishes of good food to come. I love you too!

*Susanne, I got your message! I am so sorry, I should clarify with you and everyone...these French kids are brats, but so are many American children that I have met. Also, I AM having a great time here; unfortunately, I cannot change my blog URL to something more positive, even though I totally agree with you! I should be more grateful for my experiences in other countries. I hope we can meet again soon!

*Amanda, it is so funny that you didn't know that I had a blog because I mass emailed the address to everyone including you! :) Glad to hear that all is well in Mpls, wish I was there! Can't wait to see everyone in Sept!

*Jed, I can't believe you posted! I was excited to see your name in the comments! I know, I know, I should be an expert at bathrooms in general...guess I blew that cover. Boys...none yet, only hot French men helping me in the Paris metro. So attractive. I'll let you know if anything sparks.

*MY CAPTAIN KRISTA! Hel-lo darling! Thank you for your posting, though I see there was some, ahh...shall we say...prompting from my wonderful mother. But I am happy to hear from you, nonetheless! How are you doing, you crazy ho-bag? How was SF? Did you win yourself a competition?

*Cindy, I am glad you are addicted and have some sort of comic relief during work (as does Niki, I read)! Hope all is well with you and the fam!

*Ashley Court, great to hear from you as well! I miss our chats and weird similarities! Unfortunately, I didn't get to pick up a copy of "Captivating," but I plan on reading it when I get back to the states. I can't wait to see you!

*Aunt Nancy, I was happy to see you posted and hope you're feeling better after today's sick day. Glad to know you are keeping up and I will definitely let you know when someone reminds me of you! (But maybe you're one of a kind!)

I sit here typing to you all right now with silver glitter lip gloss all over my eyes and blood red lipstick smeared on my lips. This is me after what proved to be a marvelous BOOM (if you do not know what a BOOM is, please refer to earlier posts as I don't feel like explaining it again). I also wore a "beautiful" short black dress and a sparkly top with connected arm bands (all compliments of our costume supply, so you can imagine how ridiculous I really looked) to "impress" all the kids. I hopped around singing all night (the kids looked at me and made hand motions to say I was crazy - it was super funny) while attempting to dance with each kid. It was really interesting because slow songs were the only songs the kids wanted!! They all had, like, a million dance partners picked out. It was really a very funny sight to see all these French kids dressed up dancing 3 feet away from each other. Then - in my opinion, the highlight of the night - I did the Worm. No, seriously, I did the Worm and I did it ALL. Not just a little start of one, I did the whole thing. This was bad, though, because then all of the kids started break dancing. Ooops. But my Worm was sweet. (Cassé! Broken! This is the "cool" French phrase; while you say it, you must keep your hand flat with palm up and slice it diagonally across your body very quickly. It can mean "cool" or "burned" or "slam" - really whatever you want.)

Oh, wait, I wanted to tell you that yesterday ended up going well, but these kids are just little terrors. Very fortunately for me, the other counselors tell me that this is, by far, the worst group of kids (without any comparison) any of them have ever experienced at American Village. I mean, honestly, these kids DO NOT listen to us, nor are they polite to each other. We have two boys in particular ("Willy" and "Jamie") that initiate EVERTHING and they are very vicious about it. I can't even pick out a specific incident; they are constantly stirring up trouble and provoking the other 12 boys into more antics. I have yelled a few times, but today I really let them have it. I was really beyond pissed; these kids truly have issues and are starting to make me insane. Today was the first day that Kahuna came up to me after the activities period and gave me a huge hug saying, "I hear you need your first one of these today!" I said YES and felt very relieved after being genuinely hugged by someone at camp.

Some of the children are also very sweet, though. I danced with a lot of kids tonight and had a great time. They are just like little fourth and fifth graders in the US - more concerned about who likes them and who will "go out" with them next rather than paying attention and listening. But in France, respect for authority is very different than in the states. Since we are their friends, they don't view us as authority figures, so it is very difficult for these kids to understand that they must listen to us.

The language barrier has, surprisingly, fallen away somewhat as I get to know the kids and realize how alike everyone is. I start to appreciate the similarities and differences much more than I used to. There will probably be more talk about this as time goes on. My French is getting much better just by listening to these kids speak constantly. I am not allowed to answer, which is good for my comprehension skills. You would be surprised at how much you can pick up by just listening.

Also, I find that the days bleed together as the colors do in a watercolor painting that has been hung before being dried. I get all the days mixed up. I am being fed well (you all will be happy to know that the chili for lunch and the tacos for dinner yesterday as well as the chicken wings for lunch and pasta carbonara for dinner today were all very good meals - I am eating well while I can because I hear the food in Thebe is nasty).

I am on my way to Toulouse tomorrow for the weekend. We (Jess - another counselor and I) are leaving tomorrow night at 7pm for Vienne and then we take the overnight train into Toulouse which is in the Southwestern region of France. We arrive at 6am Saturday morning and plan on sleeping for part of the day and shopping for the rest. Thebe is a 1 hour train ride and then a 30 minute car ride away from Toulouse, so we will arrive in Thebe by 5pm on Sunday night. I am hoping this weekend will be très, très relaxing...I think I need it after this week.

I miss you all dearly and am anxiously awaiting your comments!

LOVE YOU!

Kelly Belly

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