C'est la piscine. And les grèves update!

Translation: It's the pool.

Last night I went swimming for the first time in a while. The moment I walked in the chlorine smell hit me and it was like being at home again. At that moment, I got a wave of homesickness but luckily it went away. I walked in and there is a group of people, about 25 or so, standing around doing the kiss on the cheek "bisous" thing. Odd-but here, not at all. As I walked in, everyone was staring at me and my host mom introduced me as the "petite americaine". Translation: little american, also known as the exchange student. I "bisous"(ed) everyone and make small talk with some lady who is taking Route 66 on the West Coast this summer. She wanted to know all about it. Unfortunately I've never really been anywhere on the West besides Washington State, and Cali. So I'm sure she thought I was stupid when I said "Sorry, I have no clue" "Desolee, je ne connais pas". I talked to the coach and my host mom made it clear I was there to swim laps, not scuba dive-Yeah "C'est cleare"
My host mom flaged me over and I walked to where she was-leading me to the locker room. It was right next to the front desk, which resembles the front desk at Pullen Park. In front of the door there were 3 boxes. My host mom began taking her shoes and socks off, so I did the same. She placed her shoes in the box and flagged me to continue through the door with her. I walked into a room with a door behind me and a door to my right. The room I was in was a changing room, but next to me was a mini changing room (for people like me, who aren't about being nakey infront of everyone and their cousin). I get dressed into my suit and my host mom and I walked to where the showers are.
It was a series of hallways then I was presented with the showers-which you had to "do" before entering the pool (like centeral-get wet enough so they know you "took a shower"). The showers were both sexes. Yes, men and women shower in the same place, odd-for me at least. I did my awkward spin under the shower head hoping I wasn't being watched-by both men and women, even though I know I was. Not only because I was American, but because I was probably the youngest there, yeah I was the youngest. I walked to the other side of the pool with my host mom. The pool had NO lane lines and NO flags. It reminded me of a pool I went to right after Davie was born-I'm pretty sure it was a trimeet or something, very small, but very similar to last night. Anyways, there were people in the pool with there scuba masks (which the coach INSISTED on me trying, but I refused). For a good 25 minutes people sat in and around the pool talking, again.

*I found the talking is a very common thing to do at the beginning of a gathering (swimming, school, work, etc. Except I don't do it at school because I'm ALWAYS late-kill me.)

While everyone was talking I decided I was going to swim. Did a good "50m" and was like "oh buddy has it been a while". Once the coach got there he told us our "150m" warm up and we went off. OK, remember how I said NO lane lanes? Yeah, disaster. Apparently, you swim on the left lap 1, right lap 2, middle lap 3. And like that continuously. Thanks for the memo everyone! I ran into everyone and was SO confused. I think the lane line thing would do everyone a hand. We ended and the coach told me I needed a scuba mask-NO thank you. He insisted and made someone get it for me-pointless, cause I didn't use it. My host mom was laughing because she knew I didn't want to, and understood it was because I have been trained with the simple "petit" goggles, as she called them. The nice lady who did me a pointless favor handed me the goggles, no, mask, and got back in the water. We swam a little more and ended up on the deeper side of the pool. We got out and were jumping in with the mask off and putting it on underwater and having it good and on when you came up out of the water. WHAT? impossible. I pretended I understood and just jumped in with my mask on when no one was looking.
Towards the end of the "practice" (in parenthesis because I'm not sure what I was practicing) they started doing stuff with fins. I don't like fins. Even the "TRES VITE!" didn't convince me. The coach didn't care what I wanted, he wanted me to wear fins (keep in mind we already told him, just laps, yeah c'est cleare my ass). My host mom, a man and I went looking for fins, I thought I'd gotten lucky until the kind man, whom I was not happy with at the time, because he was actually searching for fins while my host mom and I were pretending, found some. Walked back to the pool, fins in hand, got in, put them on and went. I hate fins, can I repeat it one more time? I HATE FINS. Thanks.
Practice ended. I walked to the locker rooms and got my shampoo and conditioner-apres shampooing. Awkwardly I stood and took my shower while everyone around me was joyfully letting it all hang out-boys and girls. WELCOME TO EUROPE. After my awkward 5 minute shower that I rushed through, I changed. As I walked out of the locker room there was a man standing holding a tray with who knows what on it. It was food though. It was some cracker thing with something on it-even though it kinda was slimy and gross, it was good. After swim practice a man stands with a metal tray like a waiter and gives you food? SO weird!!!


PS: Update on "les grèves": Went to school today. One train in the morning-PACKED and was late to school. Rode the bus from the train station-COVERED in eggs. Haha, the bus got egged!! During English second period there was what sounded like cannons going off and a HUGEEEEE line of kids marching in the streets-oh how I wished I was in the middle of the action. Then after school my host dad told me my "host aunt's", who is a teacher, car was egged too by students today. Although it would be awesome to egg a teacher's car, it's really sad that teachers and people are getting treated this way!!