Skiing in the Pyrenees Mountains

I WENT SKIING IN THE PYRENEES MOUNTAINS! When they asked me I was shocked, but I just had to wait a minute and be told that it was the last week for skiing, and then I said YES! Why on earth WOULDN'T I go. I had nothing else to do. So I drove to the Van G's house and arrived there at 9:15. We, Bas, Boris the 10 year old boy, and I, left at 10 after packing/prepping food and whatnot.

The ride there was incredible.Like a natural tourist, I randomly rolled my window down and stuck my camera out the window to take pictures.

 loved the clouds

i wish photos could actually show how big the mountains were :(

view driving up the mountain

So upon arriving there, it's kinda raining. But Boris and I suit up in our gear (I borrowed everything from the Genots--my host family) and rent the snow boots and skis. Bas spent the day sitting in his easy chair reading a book...clearly an avid skier :P

For the first hour Boris had a private lesson which I followed and learned some tips. After that we were free to go! We took a 10 minute cable ride up to the top. But this was only halfway up the mountain. After a couple long ski rides down I dropped Boris off for hot chocolate and I went all the way to the top of the mountain...over 2200m high. 

Do you remember how I said it was raining? Well, my jacket, mitts, and snowpants were sopping wet. And when you get to that altitude, it's no longer raining. It's freezing. Snowing. My fingers became like frozen carrots, my jacket was a cardboard box, and my scarf was a plastic binder around my face. It was horrible. And the wind! I couldn't see a thing! But I went down; and going down I kept on questioning whether I should go back to the top. And you know what? Every time I said yes. I wasn't going to let frostbite stop me from living the dream. 

By the way, my hands were sooooo cold I couldn't even take a picture. And when Bas texted me asking if all was well, I responded, "Al wel." Texting two L's would've given me frostbite.

Everything was so beautiful though. And utterly silent except for the snow falling. Amazing.

more photos are on my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151304661441277.1073741825.626916276&type=1&l=2e04ebe007

I slept on the car ride home. I was exhausted. 

I ate at the Van G's house and before leaving asked them how much I owed them. Now, I had brought money and my visa to pay for everything, but Bas just paid for everything all together. They said "Don't worry about it." Well, that's very kind and all, but I really wanted to pay them back. It was too nice of them. So I insisted and insisted (I'm very stubborn) and they agreed that instead of paying them back I would just babysit for them once in a while and come over to dinner. So how cool is that? God is so good to me!