October 11, 2006
Archive
No, seriously. I got his autograph, and a croissant. Things here in France are going along in their slow, delicious pace. We had our first winter storm tonight, complete with lightning and thunder. It was rather dramatic and exciting! Since I last wrote, I have visited another town, made new friends, cooked incredible meals, and begun a new piece of fiction.
I finally got a bank account, though I still don't have the bank card...and my legal residency here is pending on a medical appointment that I don't get to make-I just have to wait until they send me a letter with the date and time. So, I'm waiting and hoping that it doesn't come while I'm out of town for vacation.
Last weekend, I was a good tourist. Michaela and I took a boat tour of the canal, and I met some very lively English folk, including my buddy John who thinks my name is Dorris. “Well, ello Dorris! How are ya today?” (This is how he greeted me at the train station the other morning when we happened to both be there.). On Saturday, Michi and I went to the market at Place Carnot, five blocks from our apartment (this is a Saturday morning tradition, where I buy all my fruits and vegetables for the week, and occasionally a baguette). After marketing, I meet up with friends for coffee at Cafe des Aromes, and this week Michi and I had coffee with Inga and Marcus, Germans living in Carca. On Sunday we took the train Beziers, which is a very pretty and historically important town a bit southeast of Carcassonne. We walked around for about four hours, touring the old town, the cathedrale, having a hot chocolate, and then heading home.
Michaela is the German assistant at the IUFM, and we live in the same apartment building. We spend most of our time together, traveling about, talking, and cooking. I don't have a table in my apartment, so we usually cook at her place and eat there. We trade off nights, one night it's her ingredients and cooking, the next night it's mine. She is really sweet, and it's nice to have someone who is sharing this experience.
On Monday, I had dinner at my friend Jay's house with all his roommates. There are 8 people living together in this HUGE house a little out of downtown. Jay's American, Susan, who is in my writing class and is the barmaid at the Irish Pub, and who first took me out in Carca, is Irish, Katie is also an assistant, at the high school, and she's from New Zealand, and then there are five French kids living there as well. Jay cooks out of a book called “Forbidden Cuisine”, or something like that. He made a Southern (as in US) inspired meal with French ingredients: fried rabbit? Okra with vinaigrette? Gravy with liver? Yep, it was real down home!
I also had my first workshop on Monday, with all of one student showing up to speak English with me. We had a great conversation though. He speaks Occitan (the regional language), and gave me a whole history lesson about the language and the traditions. It was very interesting! On Tuesday, I actually had 11 students show up! I hadn't planned anything, because I was just expecting Benjamin again, so I had to wing the whole thing. And they won't talk. It's like pulling teeth. You teachers who are reading this journal, please, please give me ideas! How do I make 24 year old students speak in English? I thought I would be great at that (I'm a 23 year old person speaking in a foreign language), but it's hard. I'm gonna start going in and just saying something horrible and controversial to get them arguing, like “all you French people smell, and I think the Iraq war is a wonderful idea!”. Maybe that will work?
Also on Tuesday, I bought my train tickets to Barcelona to begin my Toussaint vacation. I will be traveling to Barcelona for a couple of days, and then to Granada, and then to Madrid to stay with my good friend Elyse. Then back to Barcelona for one more night, and then home to Carcassonne. After leaving the station, I stopped by the NEW GYM, a gym that is about two blocks from my apartment. It's pretty crappy, old equipment, no classes except for one called “Body Sculpt” that I'm pretty sure is to help old ladies from fully dropping, but the woman there (the owner's mother) was SO sweet and so excited that I came in. Also, the location is great, and, for those of you who know me and my need to go to the gym all the time, it is tempting. I could use some body sculpting anyway. I think I'll join!
Yesterday, a student at the UFM invited Michi and I out for drinks. We had made dinner plans with Yanna, a girl we met who used to live in Carca, and is just back visiting and staying in the campsite outside of town. I cooked a delicious yellow curry (there is a little Asian market down the street from my place! I bought yellow curry paste, coconut milk, and a pork bun! I was SO happy to know that I don't have to go three months without Thai food- Portland, I miss you!). Maybe it's because I have TONS of time on my hands, or because groceries are so cheap, or because I'm suddenly having a domestic urge, but I have been cooking so much, and always wanting to cook! I've made, since being here, so many things! Maybe it's buying the produce from the farmers, I don't know! But last night's curry was damn good!
So, I went out smelling like onions, and thinking that I was going to birth a little curry child, to the pub to meet the very sweet French girls who invited us out. After about an hour, this big guy come up to the table, and says in English, “I heard Rebecca's sitting over here.” I look up, it's my friend Gary from the writing group. So, the girls have to go home and study (how I don't miss being in school), so I join the other table. Gary is writing a movie script, in fact he had just finished it that day and was celebrating, and Aden, the leading actress was there helping him along.
Today I just worked and worked and worked. I have to prepare all my lessons for the next week, as well as my workshops, and also putting things onto the shared network so the students can read and hear examples of English. I finally took a break and worked on my own fiction piece. My writing 'teacher' gives us homework assignments, and this assignment was to do a character profile for each of our characters. A character profile. I don't have a character, much less many characters that would necessitate an entire profile (what am I going to do with a gun rack? Wayne's World...). The story I've been working on is lost (the file is corrupted...a nice way for the computer to tell me that my story is a piece of crap, and that I should just bag it anyway.), so I've been quickly trying to piece together a new story with new characters. It's been fun, but I still haven't gotten up the courage to take my laptop to a cafe and stay for several hours like I usually do when I write. I'm afraid that would just be too weird and too rude.
Tomorrow, more work (trying to get it done before the weekend!), and then I'm going to the theater in the evening to see “L'Ecole des Femmes” by Moliere. I may be going to Toulouse for Friday and Saturday, still to be determined, and/or to Lourdes for a day.
Also, a great thing happened today! I got a package from my mom full of warm things like pajamas and socks! I am SO happy to have more than one sweater and more than one pair of jeans! Thank you Mom!
I think that about sums it up and fills it in. I have put a few pictures on Flickr, and I will be momentarily emailing invitations to view them. It's been so wonderful to hear from everyone, so please keep in touch! I hope you're all doing well!
Lots of love.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment