Maëva's 15th Birthday

Today is Maëva's 15th birthday. She's still in Italy at her scout camp (until August 1st). They're in the middle of their autonomous small-group excursion, which they call a RED. The acronym stands for reconaissance, exploration, découverte. Here she is with her group on Thursday before setting off:

Magda, Maëva, Clara, Claire (Sylvain's physio's daughter)

Maëva called me this morning from Clara's phone. During the autonomous excursion, the group leader gets to have their phone in case of emergencies. She was doing just fine. They had eaten the birthday brownies I sent along for breakfast. Tomorrow, when they're back at home base with the whole group, they'll have a birthday party with the box of chocolate chip cakes and candy that I sent along with her leaders.

Maëva still loves to read and often complains about not having enough books and not having enough time to read. She identifies her moods with different types of books and spends her time re-reading the book that goes along with her current state of mind. For example, sometimes she'll say something like, "It's a Percy Jackson day." She has developed a taste for reading out loud, so at story time, the two of us take turns reading alternating chapters.

She still loves The Big Bang Theory, and has also become a fan of the Gilmore Girls. She still likes Abba, but her musical tastes have expanded to include NF, Coldplay, Madonna, Yungblud, Arctic Monkeys, OneRepublic, Pink, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Blondie and Muse. She still likes flamingos and the color blue.

She also likes playing games in the pool with Sylvain and Laureva, playing the Switch and savoring pistachio-flavored things like ice cream. In the kitchen, her speciality is Spaghetti Carbonara, which Sylvain says she makes quite well. She enjoyed learning to play the guitar this year and tells me she can now play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," though she hasn't played it for me, yet. She'll continue guitar lessons in the fall. She continues to take drama classes and also enjoys going to the theater to see shows.

My friends often remark upon how intelligent and mature she is. She continues to strive for excellence and aim high in her studies. She's excited about going to the store to pick out school supplies when we get back from Greece in August and has decided she wants spiral notebooks for high school (not a traditional French type of notebook, but she tells me they are now available at a nearby store).

She does not like tidying her room; making her bed; wearing skirts or dresses, or any type of nice clothes; and eating any protein besides beef and pork, as well as most fruits and vegetables.