Thoughts of an Insomniac

So, for the past two nights, I haven't been able to get to sleep until 2:30am... Two years ago... well, even one year ago, that would be normal. Now, not so much. So many things going on in my head and I think my body just wants to make things more adventurous for me, so I guess we're trying sleep deprivation...
There's a new "student" living next to me. My Lybian friend moved into his own apartment yesterday and a couple hours later, Alex, a Beglian girl, arrived. When I saw her, I seriously thought I saw someone from Taylor, but the only place Alex has ever been in the US is New York, so it's obviously not her. Today, we went out and explored because she needed to find the hospital and some other things because she's here for a practicum of sorts at the hospital for 6 weeks before moving on to Paris. It was great to hang out with her and speak French, although the getting frustrated and her asking me to just say what I was trying to say in English wasn't so much... I have a feeling we'll get along pretty well. I feel much more at ease this week in my host family's house... I don't know if that's because I have gotten used to life here a little more or if Alex's presence has helped that much. I dunno.
I'm so excited about the things that God is going to do in the next 10 weeks... I know that some things are going to be hard, but the beauty is that there is always an end to it and that God is there to hold my hand through those times. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to talking in English only as a last resort. I'm taking a vow of French, if you will. I figure that because I'm only here for 10 more weeks, and it is therefore impossible to become fluent, I would give it all I got to try and become as fluent as possible... We'll see how this goes.
So, as far as thoughts go, I have learned a couple of things after my sleepless nights and I thought that I should write them down here:
1. When you are going to go on a long walk, don't wear new shoes. Even though you might be in Europe and you bought new shoes, you're setting yourself up for some nice blisters. Have fun with those.
2. When you are trying to find a shop, make sure that you look all the way around you... like a 360 scan... that might prevent 20 minutes of walking in circles. Looking up from the map helps a lot.
3. It's completely normal over here for people to know more than 3 languages... My Belgian friend speaks Flemish, French, English, Italian, and a little bit of German. I felt very small after I found that out.
4. If you are a resident of France and you are caught speeding in any other country, you have to pay up front when the police pull you over. However, if you are in Spain and the "police" that try to pull you over are not in a marked car, don't stop. They're not police, they're theives. I learned this at the dinner table tonight.
5. The French version of grilled cheese sandwiches puts the American version to shame. It's like this: the perfect fluffy omlete next to burnt scrambled eggs.
6. The French have a different version of a zoo... There's a garden close to my house that has animals in "habitats" in it and there's no entrance fee. And just because there's a sign that says "DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS," the French like to share their wonderful bread with them... And the bear looked very sad in his concrete pad... I think it needs a hug.
7. My host father asked me what Obama had done to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and all I could give him was a blank look. I've had other international people ask me the same question... I'll blame my inability to respond on my lack of political vocabulary...

Ok. So, after that wonderful wisdom, maybe I've shared enough information to help me sleep. I don't know. We'll see.
A bientôt!