i saw snow!

Much has gone on the past week, around here and back home as well. Last Thursday, on my way home, I was stopped at the tram stop and asked a few questions by some students. Turns out, it was an international student organization that was having a competition, trying to get groups to build and get people to translate a little paragraph into as many languages as possible. I translated it into Spanish and joined the team. To my surprise, our team ended up winning. I got a free round-trip ride up the cable car in town that leads up one of the mountains’ “Fort la Bastille.” I also got a tee-shirt (too big for me anyway), a book, a little bag and a voucher for a trip to a mountain nearby. I don’t know about this last one, I don’t have any details on it other than the day of the trip. Supposedly they’re going to email the details later, but even if it never happens, I’m happy with what I did end up with in my hands! Plus, I made friends a girl from Poland while playing.
Saturday, after resting well, I invited my friend Arielle to come over, and we watched two movies in my room (The Invasion and Ironman). Afterward, we went into town to eat lunch and buy stuff for a dinner picnic. We met up with another friend and the three of us hiked up to the Bastille. It was so wonderful! When we got to the top, a few friends that took the cable car met up with us, and we all watched the sunset and ate dinner while watching the city lights come on. After hanging out for a good while up top, we all took the cable car back into town. We had crepes at Jillian’s house, and then I, along with two other girls, spent the night at Jillian’s because she was home alone and we all had to be in town early Sunday morning for an excursion with the CUEF (Centre Universitaire d’Etudes Francaises, my school).
Sunday morning, we left town at about 8am and headed North East toward Chamonix to see the famous Mont Blanc. The weather couldn’t have been any better! We rode the cable car up to the top of the mountain and had a spectacular view. It was crazy to be high enough to see snow, but what was crazier was that we could see Italy and Switzerland! Mont Blanc is the highest summit in Europe (4,807 m = 15,780 ft). We reached as high as 12,602 ft. We spent a few hours admiring it all, hiking a little at a half-way point to a gorgeous little lake, and then we walked around town before heading home. Needless to say, my weekend was amazing, but I came home exhausted. It was hard waking up for my 8.30am Monday morning.
Sunday night, my host-parents’ daughter, Astrid, came over with her two little ones, Théophane (2) and Anselme ( 9 mos) to spend the week. Monday evening, after babysitting at my neighbor’s, it was fun to come home to little ones in the house. They aren’t used to me yet, but Théophane is starting to talk to me a little. I think he enjoys anyone who will make him laugh. I’m excited about having them around the next couple of days.