Holidays

So I have had lots of fun this past week, but I'm also really tired. Especially since it's almost 2 in the morning and I just won a contest against Noemie to see who could stay up the longest.
So last saturday all of Esther's family came over. We were about 30. They sang songs and made lots of noise. It was nice to see everyone gathered. Apparently the last guests to leave, left at 5 in the morning. Yikes.
Christmas eve and day we went to Esther's mom's house and there were about 12. We ate lots of food. There was a yummy shrimpy type of soup that I loved. Rice, chicken, and lots of appetizers. Including a weird balloon like, bean shaped food, with pig and blood inside. Apparently you just suck the insides right out of the rubbery casing. I'll be honest. I didn't try it.
They don't open presents the same way my family does. Everyone grabs their things form under the tree and opens it at the same time. I recieved very nice things from my host family. A necklace of France, a Mr bean DVD, Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatre DVD, perfume, chocolates, and a Nintendo DS game.
Every year, a skating rink is built right next to the maison carre. We went on friday but it was completely filled up, so we will try again tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. I do not do much skating, and I think it will be neat to try it right next to an ancient roman building.
I am sorry that I don't have photos or videos right now, but I will be posting them soon. Especially since there was quite a bit of signing and dancing.
That's it for now. My brain is asleep, so now I am going to bed.

Had a scare today.

Yesterday, (wednes) we could hear some noises and apparently it was some students protesting some law. But it calmed down and I didn't see them. TODAY I went to school and there was a huge amount of people outside the gate (schools here are always fenced off in some type of way). There were talking amongst themselves and I went through the gate. I went to the club room where my friends and I hang out, and I asked what all the people were doing out there. They said that it was the protest. Apparently they did it last year and didn't let anyone into the school. They also said it's a nation-wide thing. So that was fine. Some of my friends went to take the bus to some climbing wall for gym class, but I didn't have class yet so I stayed in the club. Another girl from the club came in and said that the high school "Mistral" was coming and they were going to cause a wreck because Phillipe Lamour (my school) was one of the few schools left that hadn't shut down due to the protests. I was a little scared and decided not to walk to gym class, because most people wouldn't be there, and I didn't feel safe going outside. My friends came back and said that the classes were closed. So then I called Esther but she couldn't pick me up right away and I said that was fine, I was in the club. Then someone pointed out the window and we looked out. A mass of teenagers were crossing the street, and a bunch of Lamour protesters were rushing to greet them. I was getting really scared. Then someone said that Mistral (apparently an aggressive place) was going to cause trouble for the people that weren't protesting. That includes me, cause I'm not going to cause trouble when I don't even know what the heck I would be protesting for, and I'm not even a French citizen. My friends weren't protesting either because they did last year and it didn't do anything, and they thought that it was a bit out of hand today. Anyway, someone went to ask a staff member what we should do. Turns out the best thing was to go outside the gate and show the idiots that we weren't in class. That wasn't safe, but safer. I was near tears because I have never witnessed anything like this before, and the aggressive school hadn't even reached us yet. Sophie and Margot and I quickly walked off school grounds. And I called Esther again. She was going to try and hurry but there was something important going on. Sophie's dad was going to pick up her and Margot. It was while waiting with them that I found out the scariest part. I'd thought that fists were going to be involved, but apparently they were planning on bringing knives and stuff (I don't know whether or not they did, because I'm at the house now, but Noemie says they didn't.) I was so scared. Margot and Sophie took me with them, because they didn't want to leave me alone. Sophie's dad is, I guess, a truck driving teacher because we got into this huge semi, with a student driver behind the wheel. Her dad was really nice, but they could only drop me off at a far entrance of Bouillargues, because the truck was too big. I said it was fine. And I planned to call Esther but the road looked familiar, as Jocelyn had once driven me around Bouillargues (which is bigger than I imagined). Thankfully it was the right road, and I also managed to find my way thanks to the cross on the top of the Church which is in the centre of the village. (Thank God, literally). It took about 20 minutes to walk back to the house. Anyway. Some people are saying that there wasn't actually any violence, but we shall see. The protests are supposed to happen again tomorrow, but I don't know if school will stayed closed or not. I'm still really scared and I'll talk to Jocelyn, thank goodness he's a cop.
Above is a picture I took of people joining the others at our school. (This is a small fraction of the people.)
Oh. Jocelyn just got home and I asked him, and he says he's heard something about guns or violence so he's glad we came home.
I am safe, just a little shaken. And I know the Laurettas won't let me do anything dangerous.

Did you know?

that French schools have the usual few weeks off (Christmas, etc...) but rarely have single days off?

Cool thing happened..

Jocelyn was supposed to work from 4 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon today, but he had to stay at work even longer. He was supposed to pick me up at five because I had to stay at school late, but then I got out early and found out he was still working. He ended up picking me up in a cop car (one of the cop cars that doesn't say police and looks normal) and it was really cool! He was still on duty and was wearing his uniform.
I felt bad that he came and picked me up while on duty and apologized over and over again but he said it was fine. Anyway, we still had to get to the house quickly cause he had to get back and take some carjackers to the Montpellier prison, so he put the blue light on!!!!!!! It was a little scary driving so fast, but it was really neat seeing the other cars move out of the way. :P

So I guess today I talk about Esther. She is a hairdresser. She works Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, so the hours are a little weird.
She is nice, and she's been having me write some english phrases in this book, and she practices them. Everyday type things like "Would you like some more?" Or "How was your day?"

Missing you guys!