January 12, 2014

This morning Blandine woke me up for church. I didn't get to eat much breakfast except for du pain avec du confiture. I think that's been the main difficulty adapting here: the difference in eating meals and the meal times. I have a big appetite, especially for the food here. The French don't eat a lot for breakfast traditionally. And they eat dinner later; snacks are few and far between. There's a lot more lifestyle structure, especially in the Bouchacourt household: church every Sunday and family dinners. I really admire that, plus Jeanne, Blandine, Genviève, and Gustave are all really good cooks. Gabriel and Clarisse were not here yesterday, nor today. They went to the birthday party of a family member. Gabriel has a lot of cousins and Clarisse was surprised when I told her I have no cousins. Later Genviève and I (with Jeanne's help) baked a chocolate cake for Gustave's thirteenth birthday, which was yesterday. We are celebrating it this evening.