Whooplah

Figure I should explain this word now, because when I come back and start saying it uncontrollably, people are gonna wonder. Mehdi stayed with a friend in Vineuil (south of Blois) who said "whooplah"...it translates kinda like "whoa." So if you fall off your bike? Whooplah. If you're late for class? Whooplah. If you see someone doing back flips while juggling wine glasses? Whooplah. In any case, Mehdi started it, and now I'm stuck with it. And I've probably anglicized the spelling...the French would probably say it more like "Euplah."

Today is my Friday. Leaving tomorrow in the not-so-bright-but-definitely-early morning to train my way up to Scarborough! Was lying there this morning literally teary-eyed, I can't wait to pull into the train station and smell it there. I'm staying with my former landlady, Liz, so it's seriously like going home, or as close as you wanna get on this side of the Atlantic. Just imagining ringing the doorbell to the flat...Rosie the Jack Russell is going to bark her head off, come down the stairs to meet me, stop in her tracks and go, "Whooplah!"