the weekend

I bought the cheapest cell phone I could find, a little black brick for 19€ and since receiving calls is free for me, I had my mom call me and we talked for 2 and a half hours. hahah yeah, free for me, not for her, but it was so wonderful to talk to her. I was talking a mile a minute and we still talked for that long and we could have talked for hours more, I'm sure.

the 4th of july, I celebrated by being more social than usual. I went to the ward activity in the morning - it was a ward breakfast (ward breakfast mon oeil, there were maybe 20 people there) and then we watched the movie Saints and Soldiers in french. I hadn't ever seen it, just the opening scene one time when mom and dad were starting it and I was going out. my impression of that scene, my memory, compared with how it really was, is astoundingly different. that screaming soldier was only screaming for about 3 seconds in the real thing, but for me in my head I thought it was like 5 minutes ... it was a really good movie, though the attempts to capture french culture were a little contrived. afterwards, I had a long conversation with laure and then I was invited to lunch with laure and kathy and kathy's husband and kids (they're like celesta's family frenchified). the kids ate macdo and we had pizza - it was an epic french meal ...

I got out my sketchbook for the first time in awhile and could hardly believe what the result was. it expressed a huge amount of misandry and anger. I guess it shows how strongly I feel about my male/female interactions here. it's really hard being a young single woman with a large chest. not only am I constantly having to avoid creepers and come-ons, it's just the constant attention that gets to me. I feel out of control of my own body because people are enjoying it without my permission and it makes me feel completely objectified. this isn't saying that all french men are like this, they don't just fill that stereotype, but in general, the cultural approach to sex and bodies is more open and public, so it's more acceptable to act like that, I guess. I have to say, I'm so excited to be going back to a place where I don't have to be afraid of or angry at men all of the time.

so ... yup, hard as it is to believe, I miss provo. I never really thought I'd be able to honestly say that, but I do. it's familiar and clean and not a city and people who I miss and love are in provo. it's really strange, but I think provo has become my home -- I miss my family a ton, but the place I miss is provo, not virginia. maybe because france is so much like virginia in temperature and greenery etc. that I'm drawn more towards the environmental aspects that are lacking here. I don't know. needless to say, I am learning so many things about myself here in france.

I'm starting to visit my round of 25-ish old people for the second time and starting to have real friendships with some of them and it makes me happy. I'm going to visit suzanne benezech for the 2nd time this afternoon and I can't wait because the woman seriously loves me to death. I think she would adopt me if she could. and her great-grandson of 5 years old thinks I'm pretty :) that's my in, weasling my way into the hearts of young frenchmen. I've got little wilson on my side, what else do I need?

harry potter movie posters are starting to go up around the city and I watched the trailer for the first time today and I forgot how incredible the 6th book is ... I'm getting so excited!!!