Excerpts from Caitlin Cornell's Letters Home:

I tried not to think too hard about leaving, as I as afraid to develop expectations about my host family. I was trying to resist making assumptions based on French stereotypes that I have encountered in the U.S.

I began to realize after I got here that this family had offered their home to an American for no other reason than because they wanted to, and I have had a lot of fun with all of them so far. Hubert has taken me over to his friends' houses for dinner occasionally because he likes to show off my "very small American accent." Agnès and I go shopping a lot together, and we tend to like the same music, so that gives us something to talk about as well.

I got the chance to teach Agnès and Hubert and Mom Séné how to play the card game "Go Fish" a few days ago. That was absolutely hilarious because Hubert figured out a way to cheat! It was fun to teach them something American but try to explain it to them in French. I'm glad I picked something easy like "Go Fish." Maybe next I'll try Uno.