Final Friday

Today, I'm going to tell a story: the time Latin Class was canceled and no one told the exchange student. I  waited the entire class period and no one showed up, so I'm not sure what the deal with that was. They did have Archaeology magazines from the late eighties, so that was my consolation prize.
The rest of the day was pretty great. Two teachers passed out food because I was leaving, and some of the students actually talked to me. Amazingly, there were more than a few who were surprised to learn that a) I was in their class, and b) that I was leaving. I must have really made an impression here. After school, Rosa and I rushed to the train station, rode into town, and got her a new pair of point shoes. Then, well, after a gelato stop, her parents picked us up and I had the experience of Vietnamese food. Now here comes the interesting part, so if you're skimming, stop. To get to the Mykyta Chomsky's before nine or so at night, we had to ride the bus home. Apparently the route we needed to take was known for being a little sketchy, but we managed to get most of the way home without any incident. However, within the last fifteen minutes not only did we witness policemen patting down youths, a man on some kind of mind altering substance got on the bus and howled the ceiling. It was okay, until he got off at the same stop. But we made it home just fine, running a little bit because of the gallons of tea we had at the restaurant, but fine. Now Rosa and I are watching Doctor Who and I'm gonna make some tea. By this time tomorrow, I'll be home. Goodnight, Night Vale. Goodnight.

Thursday

I woke up and felt terrible and my host mom said I didn't have to go to school. So nothing really happened today, I drank tea and slept. Sorry for the lack of interesting things.

Wednesday

I am so ready to go home. Evidently, it's very hard to pay attention in school when there's no threat of an assessment hanging over your head. My histories are still very interesting, of course, and so is gender studies, but then you get into endless sects of Christianity during the Roman Empire, and Biology, to say nothing of Latin declensions. But tomorrow I pack my bags, since Friday we'll be out pretty late. I've definitely become accustomed to life at the Mykyta- Chomsky's, which mostly involves listening to Manny play the piano at six in the morning and drinking tea. Graham crackers also play a heavy role. It's been very interesting to live with a different family, because it's usually difficult to get a fix on people's daily lives as a more temporary guest. The anthropology part of my brain likes that very much. Also a very nice thing: last night both of my parents called. I kind of communicated with my cat. (Don't worry Tigris, we shall be reunited soon.) I can stop joking about being an orphan with my host parents! Yay! In all honesty, I feel like I've done very well here, maybe not by most people's standards, but by mine. I was less homesick than I thought I'd be (opening lines aside) and reasonably sociable. So five points to Gryffindor and all of that. Speaking of, I went to Harry Potter club today, and we watched the first half hour of the first movie. So if I was sad today, that fixed it. 

Sorry for any in coherency, but the lab report for Biology befuddled my brain and I'm multitasking a little. Enjoy your evening, blog readers.  

Tuesday

Today I received an email from a friend (whose name rhymes with Meena) who asked if I was okay, because my blog was sad and obsessed with food. That's honestly not my intention when I'm writing the blog, but since I usually write after school, when I haven't had food yet and I'm tired and cranky. My experience here has been a positive one, I'm just someone who likes to complain. And food is important, and some of the things I've eaten have been worth obsessing over. So now that I've gotten the disclaimer out of the way; today was much better than yesterday. I dealt with the homework problem, and I had a teacher for the last time. I only have three more full days here, which makes it harder to be stressed about homework and quizzes. I still manage, though. I also got an annotated copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin from the English teacher, which is very interesting, so I'll use it for my presentation on Thursday.  Meeting with my uncle after school was probably the more exciting part of the day. We got coffee, which was great because hello, caffeine, and talked. The weird thing is I haven't seen him since eighth grade or something like that, and I'd like to flatter myself that I've changed since then, but he looks pretty much the same. It was very nice to see him, though, and I'll see him again next week at Thanksgiving. Which is also weird, because wasn't it just Halloween? Final side note: I hate to say it, but I think I've caught Rosa's cold thing. However, my superior immune system, and the fact that I probably eat twice the food she eats, have stopped it from developing beyond a runny nose and sore throat. I can hack it three more days. I have an English presentation and a Bio lab to write, so I'll leave on that note. Happy Tuesday, everyone.

Blegh, Monday

The title speaks for itself. Today was rough. I ate a lot of carbohydrates and tried my very best to stay awake in class. There were some computer issues and then there were some printing issues, so I couldn't turn in all of my homework for today, but the teachers were very understanding. At least I only have four more days at the school, and we have some exciting things planned for Friday. Tomorrow, I'm meeting with my uncle, who I actually have to call tonight. On the plus side, my new cardigan is very soft and comfortable. I also wanted to thank everyone who has left me comments, they're all very much appreciated. I'm very excited to come home and see everyone again! On that note, I'm going to venture out of my blanket cocoon and find my host family (and maybe a cup of tea...) so I can finalize my plans for tomorrow, which I'm sure I'll deal with much better. I hope everyone's had a good day.
-Emma

Last Sunday at Germantown

This was a great day. I have significantly less money than I did this morning, but it was still great. This morning, Rosa and I rushed out the door to catch the train into town, grabbing breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts along the way. First we went to the Franklin Institute, where we saw a very interesting exhibit on Pompeii and walked through a model of a heart. On our way to the Natural History Museum, we passed the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon.There were a lot of sweaty people. We got to the museum, I took a picture with the T- Rex outside, and we looked at dinosaur bones. Rosa very patiently waited while I asked a paleontologist how I could get his job. Then we got lunch at a hot dog place that is, apparently, a big deal. It was fine, but the most significant thing was that it began my caffeine spiral of the afternoon. We then started the shopping portion. We went to the store that had the coat, searched everywhere, but couldn't find it. That was a little bit heartbreaking, so I tried to bury my pain by temporarily turning into my shopaholic sister. I think the grand total for the day is one CD, one T-shirt, a very nice sweater, an amazing cupcake, and a pair of jeans, not to mention the coffee, the Diet Coke, and a few train tickets. Buying things is gret, I don't know why I rarely do it. Also, there are apparently stores that just sell 1950's inspired clothing. Stores where I am a small. Stores that have amazing dresses...that are around a hundred dollars each. Yeah. I will return, and buy all of the dresses. It was probably the closest thing I'll get to a Disney movie montage. I mean, we did go to a park where people were swing dancing, so it's possible Philadelphia slipped into movie land for a few minutes. Probably the only downside is we walked quite a bit, and my shoes weren't quite up to the challenge. So right now I'm kind of relaxing and waiting for dinner, which is baby octopus. Not really sure how this is going to go, but I'm going to find out pretty soon. Six more days until my triumphant return to the Midwest!

Saturday

Today I actually benefited from my host family's busy schedule. They picked me up from the house at around noon, and I got some amazing doughnuts. I didn't know that strawberry lavender doughnuts existed before today, but they are now my favorite. Then we picked up Manny, dropped him off somewhere else, and went to a very large market. Which was also excellent, because it had lots of people and lots of food. My host parents went grocery shopping and I wandered (I may have also picked up a few birthday presents..). And I also had an authentic hoagie, and it was pretty delicious. Lesson of the day: I can eat a lot of food in four hours. The soda probably helped, and I got some much needed caffeine. Later on we're going to dinner at a friend's house, the same friend, as it happens, that owns the very nice cafe we went to last weekend, so hopefully there'll be coffee. Today was a great followup to last night's romantic comedy, nail polish, and french toast consumption. Tomorrow we're going to go to some museums, and maybe (hopefully) purchase the coat of my dreams. By this time next week, I'll be at home, which is definitely something to look forward to. Enjoy your Saturday, everyone!