It's true. Things that rarely happen do occur, such as snow in Tours. This opportunity has satisfied my desire for snow and absolutely ruined any academic spirit I might have had in my body. From the first sighting of snow this morning, I've been in such a good mood, loving seeing the white flakes grace the old buildings and watching students, young and old, throw snowballs at each other. It's amazing how snow affects different people. There were quite a few people at the Institute who had never seen snow before... Some people grabbed their umbrellas and stood outside with them, which gave me a good chuckle. Others immediately grabbed the nearest snow, fashioned a projectile and threw it at the nearest unsuspecting victim. Others made the snowballs and offered to give them to the people taking shelter inside. A newly-made Arab friend offered me a snowball to spread on my baguette that I was eating with chocolate. I politely refrained and he went on to ask the nice older Irish lady if she wanted it in her hot chocolate. People really do the silliest things when they see snow. I love it.
The French, or at least the people in Tours, don't really know what to do when it snows. Apparently it doesn't happen often enough to invest in snow tires or chains, so the French just continue to slip and slide their way around town, which can be pretty dangerous... Thankfully, the only thing that would stop trains would be if the top electrical line became frozen, but it looks like that won't happen... It's not cold enough. Don't get me wrong... It's truly cold, but the snow that was on the ground is turning into slush. I hope that doesn't turn into ice tomorrow! Thankfully, I have until 10am to be at class, so hopefully it has time to melt if it does turn deadly. I also live close to the Institute, so that's good.
I bought most of my last minute gifts today and I'm trying to grasp the concept that I only have one day left here... My heart is sad, but it's also jumping for joy in my chest to see friends and family. One of my friends put it very well: I don't want to leave France, but I'm more than ready to be home. Too bad those things can't reside together for the moment. The rest of my time will be consumed with packing and trying to figure out small details. Tonight, Kamal (the real spelling of his name) is coming over for dinner and my host dad is coming home from his business trip to Italy. It will be a great dinner, I think. The conversations are always great when Kamal comes over. I love learning more about Muslim culture.
Last night, we had a gathering of BGSU students/TU students over here at my apartment and it was great. I made apple crumble with my host mom and the 9 of us who came ate it all and played a form of Catch-Phrase. It was a great time of hanging out together because who knows the next time we'll see them... I also got to play hostess, which is really one of my favorite things to do. As I reflect, I become more and more thankful for my host family situation. God is good. He knew what I needed better than I did, like normal, and provided me with great host parents and Alix... What a great semester!
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