Yes I know it's a strange name, don't ever ask me how to pronounce it.
We woke up fairly early this day, ate in the restaurant, and then got on the road. This day we had to get to our reservations so there wouldn't be any stops for us. This was fine by me because I needed to work on schoolwork.
Since I spent most of the day on the computer in the backseat I can pretty much sum up most of the day in a few short sentences. First and foremost, I got all of my study guide done (except for three questions which I could not find the answers to). Second, I didn't get sick at all, except for just before lunch time where we stopped at a gas station and grabbed a bite to eat-then I was fine. Third, I was so absorbed in my work that I never noticed that we were in traffic and that we were continuously stopping and going. Fourth, I stopped writing whenever the battery was about to collapse and by that time we'd made it to the town where we needed to start looking for our bungalows.
Now that I've gone through most of the day in four sentences I need to mention that when I heard that we were staying in bungalows I immediately started getting nervous. Before we went on this trip I had thought that Ahmee had only made reservations at places where I would be certain to have internet access. Bungalows typically don't have internet, they're like camping for those who don't want to mess with a tent and who want to be warmer. Not having internet readily available makes me nervous and normally ends up stressing me out more than homework ever does. Internet connection is what gives me access to various articles that are in English; it gives me access to communicate with my close friends who're like family and family; it gives me access to communicate with my teachers; it gives me access to new assignments; and it allows me to send my assignments to my teachers. Since we're going to be here a week I was more than a little stressed out when I heard that they didn't have internet, even though I suspected as much. Hearing that there was an internet cafe the next town over did little to help me either. I write my blogs on this computer, I don't know how to transfer them to other computers. I do my assignments on this computer, I don't know how to transfer those to other computers. The only thing I'm able to do on other computers is check and send emails. So, I'll be able to go to the next town over maybe a couple times this coming week, I'll be able to respond every other day or so to people, but I'm fairly certain I won't be able to send the work I've gotten done. I'll be writing about articles on pieces of paper and mailing them. This I don't mind so much at all, there are a lot of articles I'd like to share with people back home.
All of these thoughts were floating through my head as we checked into our bungalow, got the keys, and drove up. The internet issue stressed me out too much and I realized as we went up the hill to our bungalow that I was making myself miserable when there was nothing I could do about it, at least not yet, and that I was missing out on some beautiful views. Even though I told myself this I didn't start feeling better very fast. When I took a look at the bungalow I decided that after I got over being stressed I'd like it, it was just too "quaint" to not like. We'd been in so many cities that I knew I was going to like the countryside. Like I said, I had to get rid of my stress first. To do this I stuck with the usual. I tidied up.
We moved our suitcases and our essential bags into the bungalow and I immediately started looking around for various things. I rearranged things in the kitchen, I put my bath bag up, I hung up everyone's coats and purses and scarves on the hooks in the main hallway, I decided where I'd put my suitcase and where I'd put my backpack, and then I started looking at what I'd like to do after dinner. I knew I'd want to blog some more, and that I would want to write my views on various articles. I wish that I could just be given free range on the articles. I don't like being limited to a specific topic whenever there are others here that are really interesting.
I then helped Ahmee with her grocery list as Poppy looked at the things that were left for us. He only opened the coffee things though and I later opened it up to discover that some of the things we'd put on the list. Some of the things we wanted were: candles (smelled like cigarette smoke in there), stuff for spaghetti, killer bread, stuff for breakfast, lotion (for me, my lotion's all out), and anything else we decided would be a good idea. We went down the hill and went into the little grocery store that was in the park. As we came down I noticed that we were in an area that looked like the Appalachians. Since we'd been in flat-lands for so long it was a nice change. Another something I noticed was how much the forest reminded me of home, even though we haven't been living on Garritt St. in a while and haven't taken scenic drive in forever. In the grocery store we discovered how much German we could understand.
Let me say right now: shopping for groceries in a country where you don't know much of the language can be really interesting. We ended up getting: honey nut cheerios (not the name-but the same thing), killer bread, pasta, tomato sauce, salt, jelly, milk, apple juice, mayonaise, mustard, three different cheeses, butter, a bottle of wine, and a handful of sudsy soap. Ahmee and I had absolutely no luck finding lotion. To see if we'd found something that was lotion Ahmee opened the bottle and just as I was saying, "No that's body soap!" a dollup of soap landed on my palm. Ahmee looked at it and at first thought it was lotion, then when I rubbed it in and it got bubbly she laughed and said, "Wops!" She and I laughed a good deal over the soap misadventure.
When we got back to the room with all of our goodies I grabbed the two clothes we'd used in Giverny for our previous picnic and carted them inside along with the bags. I set up the table, putting the two clothes down and suddenly felt quite at home and much happier than before (some stress still lingered though). Then I set the groceries on the table and went to wash the soap off my hand. When I got back I helped put away a few stragglers that were still on the table.
We had a very long happy hour that turned into our dinner. We ate our bread, part of the three cheeses, apples, mustard, and drank our drinks. I know it might not sound the greatest, but believe me, this has been my favorite meal this whole time (had the same thing in Giverny). Afterwards I was tempted to start writing about the articles, since the newspaper was sitting right in the middle of the table, staring at me, but then before I got to do anything Ahmee and Poppy decided they wanted to go for a walk around the park. I went with them, wanting to get the rest of the stress off of me.
It was nippy out and I was glad I'd grabbed my coat and my gloves. The sun was just beginning to go down and, as is usual for that time of the day, the golden rays hit the tops of the trees. As we walked along between the other bungalows (a lot of them really) we could smell the dinners other people were having, and the fires. One of my favorite smells in the whole world is that of a bonfire. Ahmee and Poppy liked the smell of it too and when we walked through the area of woods we each picked up two handfuls of sticks to burn once we got back. We shuffled along on the gravel path, looking around at some of the trees that were changing color, some of the trees that had lost a few leaves that were crinkling under our feet, and some of them were still very green. This is one of my favorite times of the year. Just before fall comes in you start to smell the difference (same with winter and spring), and you can see it slowly creeping up-if you look close enough. The days of transition from one season to the next are fun.
Once we got back to our bungalow we broke up the sticks and went inside to make a fire in our fireplace and kick back and enjoy it. All of the lights were off.
It took a long time for the fire to die down, which greatly satisfied us. I really wanted to just go to bed after that fire, but I knew I needed to finish my blog. I hopped on the computer, wrote for a bit, and then put on tons of layers of clothes and got under two comforters to fall fast asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment