This past week has been absolutely beautiful here in the Southwest of France, which has meant lots of sun-bathing and relaxing. Last night I got to go a bit further than that and go up into the mountains to rockclimb! I went with a friend and four of his cousins (none of whom spoke English) to the same area where I went snowshoeing (lower down on the mountain, we weren't in the snow). I climbed the cliff several times and had a slight woopsie one time when I lost my footing -- thank God for belay-ers. Then my friend asked me if I wanted to learn how to belay, so I said sure...I wasn't aware that learning meant actually doing it and having his life in my hands. I was absolutely terrified that I was going to kill him, but one of his friends helped me and made sure he had a hand on the rope just in case I lost control. My friend did not die thankfully.
When we were getting ready to leave, another of his cousins asked me if I had enjoyed myself, but I mistranslated her words into "were you scared", so I responded with a confident "no." When they are stared at me in disbelief, I knew that I had said the wrong thing. After apologizing profusely for misunderstanding, I assured them that I enjoyed myself immensely and hope to do it again sometime (if they'll excuse my foreign-ness).
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