so many of you might not actually know that my contract has been renewed for the upcoming school year, and therefore, i will be continuing to document my adventures, though hopefully more diligenly this time, through this blog.
this summer has been a whirlwind, all with work & adjusting to my life back home as well as getting ready for another year abroad. mid-june i received an e-mail, informing me of my renewal for '09-'10. it was at this time that i learned my poste was in another town, only about 40 minutes train-ride away from where i was living last year, most importantly, still on the magnificent breton coastline.
saint-brieuc, they call it, and i already know the city a little from trips to the prefecture to sort out some carte de sejour troubles last year. though not as quaint as lannion, it is the capital of the cotes-d'armor region of bretagne, and has a population of about 46,000 habitants. while by no means, 'bustling,' it will bouge a little bit more than my town of 20,000 (and my hometown of 3,000, for that matter). it's a little closer to paris, a little more centrally located. there's also a whole slew of assistants there next year. bonus.
shortly after receiving that e-mail, i created a fb group to help assistants become acquainted & to answer any questions they might have. it's been fun watching it grow, and will be a good start for planning events & outings & sharing teaching ideas. not bad, not bad.
i spent the following few weeks diligently checking the mailbox for any sign of my arrete, and by the end of july, i had received a contract i could hold in my hand as well as the rest of the "useful" materials given to assistants. i celebrated with a friend & a sail out into the lake & a picnic of pb&js. it was a great day.
so as i prepare to move back to france-land, into the unknown (okay, well, maybe not so much), i look forward with great enthusaism upon the adventure that awaits. and i look forward to sharing it, too. so... stay tuned!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
last nite in lannion.
i know, i know. i'm thinking the same thing... "already?!" this kinda came out of nowhere, i must say. also been neglectful of the blog as of late, but that's another story altogether. i'll try to back-blog to let you know what i've been up to during my two-month leave of absence. it is my last night in lannion, and while i should be packing, i'm sitting in my disheveled, empty room, looking out at the little lights that climb up the hill on the other side of the valley, across town. the moon is almost full, made for a not-so-scary walk home from a friend's, and will most likely wake me up at some point tonight. the weather's been kinda crap, nice this afternoon, so it's been pas mal for packing. got the chance to wander around a bit while i ran some errands, tried to deal with la banque & la poste, and soak up a little bit of sunshine while snacking on the last pain chocolat i'll see in awhile. went to the beach at trestel & had a goodbye picnic with eloi. i've already been missing him more than what i can put into words, & when i leave, i'll miss the salty air & the sound of the waves as the tide rolls in & out. went to a hip little rhum bar, somewhere between les quatre vents & plouguiel. this whole leaving thing is so bittersweet, but i know that at least for the time being, with all that's been going on lately, it's better that i go home for awhile. i will deeply miss this strange place. la bretagne me manquera, ca c'est sur.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
getting back to morocco...
as promised, here's a little tidbit of my trip to marrakech i took mid-february. i could bore you with every little event that passed, but instead, i'll include some excerpts from the journal i not-so-religiously kept, which also happens to read more like a to-do list than an account of the events and experiences that passed. i'll post some photos too.
moto.
our riad.
saadien tombs.
...derek and i wandered through a spanish/moorish archway, onto sidi mimoun, hoping we were even on the right street. we successfully found the hospital (where we were told to first locate in order to find our accommodations) at the dead-end, all the while a small boy following us, asking if we're looking for our riad. we politely told him "no" and ignored him, just the the guidebooks said, and then a man, about our age, also asked if we were looking for riad el az, making sure to mention my name & instructing us to follow the munchkin. of course the kid was angry at me when i only handed him 5dh, but what did he expect, that little punk?...
the souks.
...we strolled towards "la place" djamaa el fna, where we encountered snake charmers, fortune tellsers, monkeys, henna artists, musicians... back to the place, which had transformed into restaurants (this transformation takes place every evening), serving up couscous and tagines (we ate both at #1, complimented with fresh olives & aubergines), lamb's heads, snails, puddings, fried fish, sausages & brochettes (meat-on-a-stick), soups to be slurped with long ladles, dried fruits & nuts, and one of our personal favorites, the egg sandwiches...
place djamaa el fna.
the calligrapher.
...ran into a calligrapher who carefully explained to us the art and process and who scrolled our names, with loads of enthusiasm, a big smile and twinkles in his eyes... was lured in by a spice vendor, pushing his potions & powders, first crushing things & lighting them on fire so we could get a whiff. while we were led inside the little shop, the smooth-talker opened jars, pushed them into our faces so we could get the smells, then tea, rose-based pink paste on our hands, amber and eucalyptus and musk. ha gave us some "free gifts" and i ended up buying 50g (quite the bag-full) of loose tea, making it worth his trouble.
...went hiking in the atlas mountains with our trusty guide, jamal. getting there in itself, was an adventure. found the taxi stand & then clung on for our lives on the way to amizmiz, gradually making the ascent into the foothills. must've seen over 100 species of plants during the hike, and the views of the snowcapped summits were incredible. snacked on bread (which we watched being made in a clay oven), fresh-pressed olive oil, almonds from the trees across the way, and "attaye", moroccain green tea. every pass gave way to more spectacular views & more things to discover. lunch with our berber family was fantastic. tagine of tomatoes & potatoes, beef & spices, all sopped up by fresh bread & washed down with more tea. the tea pouring ritual itself was a sight to see. met his beautiful grandchildren, a shy little guy, about the age of two, and his curious five-year-old sister, who kept peeking around the corner at her strange visitors. jamal answered every question, showed us things you might not notice otherwise, and was amazingly patient with the photo-clicking of our tourist-selves. came back to the riad, and popped open a bottle of moroccain red on the terrace, and relaxed a bit before going to sleep.
lunch with our berber family.
well, i could go on, but considering this has taken me over two weeks to put together just this bit, i'm going to just let it go (and maybe add more later if i have time, who knows...). enough for now.
wine on the terrace.
sniffing a whiff of mint to cover up the stench at the tanneries.
moto.
our riad.
saadien tombs.
...derek and i wandered through a spanish/moorish archway, onto sidi mimoun, hoping we were even on the right street. we successfully found the hospital (where we were told to first locate in order to find our accommodations) at the dead-end, all the while a small boy following us, asking if we're looking for our riad. we politely told him "no" and ignored him, just the the guidebooks said, and then a man, about our age, also asked if we were looking for riad el az, making sure to mention my name & instructing us to follow the munchkin. of course the kid was angry at me when i only handed him 5dh, but what did he expect, that little punk?...
the souks.
...we strolled towards "la place" djamaa el fna, where we encountered snake charmers, fortune tellsers, monkeys, henna artists, musicians... back to the place, which had transformed into restaurants (this transformation takes place every evening), serving up couscous and tagines (we ate both at #1, complimented with fresh olives & aubergines), lamb's heads, snails, puddings, fried fish, sausages & brochettes (meat-on-a-stick), soups to be slurped with long ladles, dried fruits & nuts, and one of our personal favorites, the egg sandwiches...
place djamaa el fna.
the calligrapher.
...ran into a calligrapher who carefully explained to us the art and process and who scrolled our names, with loads of enthusiasm, a big smile and twinkles in his eyes... was lured in by a spice vendor, pushing his potions & powders, first crushing things & lighting them on fire so we could get a whiff. while we were led inside the little shop, the smooth-talker opened jars, pushed them into our faces so we could get the smells, then tea, rose-based pink paste on our hands, amber and eucalyptus and musk. ha gave us some "free gifts" and i ended up buying 50g (quite the bag-full) of loose tea, making it worth his trouble.
...went hiking in the atlas mountains with our trusty guide, jamal. getting there in itself, was an adventure. found the taxi stand & then clung on for our lives on the way to amizmiz, gradually making the ascent into the foothills. must've seen over 100 species of plants during the hike, and the views of the snowcapped summits were incredible. snacked on bread (which we watched being made in a clay oven), fresh-pressed olive oil, almonds from the trees across the way, and "attaye", moroccain green tea. every pass gave way to more spectacular views & more things to discover. lunch with our berber family was fantastic. tagine of tomatoes & potatoes, beef & spices, all sopped up by fresh bread & washed down with more tea. the tea pouring ritual itself was a sight to see. met his beautiful grandchildren, a shy little guy, about the age of two, and his curious five-year-old sister, who kept peeking around the corner at her strange visitors. jamal answered every question, showed us things you might not notice otherwise, and was amazingly patient with the photo-clicking of our tourist-selves. came back to the riad, and popped open a bottle of moroccain red on the terrace, and relaxed a bit before going to sleep.
lunch with our berber family.
well, i could go on, but considering this has taken me over two weeks to put together just this bit, i'm going to just let it go (and maybe add more later if i have time, who knows...). enough for now.
wine on the terrace.
sniffing a whiff of mint to cover up the stench at the tanneries.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
spring comes early in bretagne.
i know, i know, i know... you're all thinking, where the hell are the exciting stories & vibrant photos from my last little jaunt to morocco? or better yet, 'you've been home a week, and you're telling me you truly haven't had time to tune us all in?!'... well, i did in fact, get back from marrakech & paris & all that jazz almost a week ago, and while i can't say that i've been ridiculously busy, i haven't really felt the urge to write so much... sooo... you're going to just have to wait.
on another note, the skies are blue, the air is fresh, the sun is shining brightly. i can feel my arteries clogging from the best pain au chocolat on the planet... i don't care if your pere owns a boulangerie, or if your grandma makes equally good chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. these are the best, hands-down. any other pain au chocolat tastes like complete crap now. it's loaded with so much butter that it leaks through the wax paper baggie they put it in, for crying out loud... and even though i had to send a student out of class today for rude, disruptive behavior, eating that fresh-this-morning, warm, buttery, flaky, golden, chocolate-filled pastry makes everything okay again. the birds are chirping.
so even though i have mounds of laundry to do, my chore of cleaning the kitchen still not checked off the list, grocery shopping because my cupboards look like old mother hubbard's, a blog that needs some serious updating, and a room that looks like a nuclear fall-out zone, i'm going to make an effort to get out & enjoy the sunshine. the rest can wait. on doit profier de la vie!
on another note, the skies are blue, the air is fresh, the sun is shining brightly. i can feel my arteries clogging from the best pain au chocolat on the planet... i don't care if your pere owns a boulangerie, or if your grandma makes equally good chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. these are the best, hands-down. any other pain au chocolat tastes like complete crap now. it's loaded with so much butter that it leaks through the wax paper baggie they put it in, for crying out loud... and even though i had to send a student out of class today for rude, disruptive behavior, eating that fresh-this-morning, warm, buttery, flaky, golden, chocolate-filled pastry makes everything okay again. the birds are chirping.
so even though i have mounds of laundry to do, my chore of cleaning the kitchen still not checked off the list, grocery shopping because my cupboards look like old mother hubbard's, a blog that needs some serious updating, and a room that looks like a nuclear fall-out zone, i'm going to make an effort to get out & enjoy the sunshine. the rest can wait. on doit profier de la vie!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
leaving for morocco!
i just thought i'd let you all know that i'll be peace-ing out of little ol' lannion tomorrow night (well, technically tonight) & then heading for marrakech tuesday. i'm stoked.
also, there's force 9 winds here in bretagne tonight. pretty exciting stuff. it'll be nice to see some sunshine!
also, there's force 9 winds here in bretagne tonight. pretty exciting stuff. it'll be nice to see some sunshine!
Friday, February 6, 2009
and yet again, les vacances!
i mentioned i'd get back with people regarding february vacation... we (cuz derek & moi) decided in a matter of ten minutes to go to marrakech for the break, toute de suite! needless to say, we'd both been thinking about it for awhile, as it had been part of our original itinerary, and we're stoked! we'll be traveling to paris & then spending a week in "le perle du sud", directly translated as "pearl of the south"... experiencing the markets & mosques, and hopefully even getting to trek into the atlas mountain range. we shall see...
as far as stuff going on here is concerned...
male making crepes.
bruno did a great job keeping our drinks full!
a breton snowman, i mean, snow-woman! yay, snow!
amy & a galette.
the cause of the food-baby.
i've been laying low a lot lately, a little bit of a cold here & there. i've been eating a lot of crepes/galettes lately. four times in the past two weeks, to be exact. last week, bruno had us over to his place to make our own for a change. good drinks were shared with good friends, and we ate plenty of good food. i tried to make my own galette, but male could sense my struggle & came to the rescue. champignons, creme fraiche, lardons for the galettes & pommes flambees (with the help of a little grand marnier) for the dessert crepes. good times. i went to african dance class again last week, and it's going really well. i pick up on things quickly, but it's still challenging enough (because of the differences in styles alone) to keep me interested. last week i had a "fete" with brittany via skype. it was a good (albeit, long) night. i've been spending quite a bit of time online talking with friends, and it's been therapeutic in a way to catch up with everyone & find out what's going on in other parts of the world. amy & hannah (the assistants from guingamp) surprised me for a visit & i took them out to my favorite creperie. i had the "mother" of all galettes: gratinee chevre, miel, creme fraiche, lardons, & emmental. it was heaven, and a late-term food-baby. i was guilt-tripped into topping it off with a crepe caramel au buerre sale, too, so i'm sure that didn't help matters. we went out for a drink at the bar behind our place, and watched people tango. other than that, i've just been frantically trying to put some things together for our trip & making playlists on deezer.com (the french equivalent of pandora). today, there was a fest deiz at school (like a fest noz, but during the day), with live music and everything-minus-the-breton-beer. the students really got into it & seemed to enjoy themselves. tonight we headed over to the pixie for a goodbye drink with jo, who'll be leaving us for frankfort after the break. i knew that it was going to be a whirlwind after christmas break, but i never knew how fast things would really fly by.
oh, and something else exciting... one of my classes participated in a debate this week (in english), regarding a topic drawn out of a hat... euthanasia. and it worked. pretty exciting to know that i have some students who can pull that off.
as far as stuff going on here is concerned...
male making crepes.
bruno did a great job keeping our drinks full!
a breton snowman, i mean, snow-woman! yay, snow!
amy & a galette.
the cause of the food-baby.
i've been laying low a lot lately, a little bit of a cold here & there. i've been eating a lot of crepes/galettes lately. four times in the past two weeks, to be exact. last week, bruno had us over to his place to make our own for a change. good drinks were shared with good friends, and we ate plenty of good food. i tried to make my own galette, but male could sense my struggle & came to the rescue. champignons, creme fraiche, lardons for the galettes & pommes flambees (with the help of a little grand marnier) for the dessert crepes. good times. i went to african dance class again last week, and it's going really well. i pick up on things quickly, but it's still challenging enough (because of the differences in styles alone) to keep me interested. last week i had a "fete" with brittany via skype. it was a good (albeit, long) night. i've been spending quite a bit of time online talking with friends, and it's been therapeutic in a way to catch up with everyone & find out what's going on in other parts of the world. amy & hannah (the assistants from guingamp) surprised me for a visit & i took them out to my favorite creperie. i had the "mother" of all galettes: gratinee chevre, miel, creme fraiche, lardons, & emmental. it was heaven, and a late-term food-baby. i was guilt-tripped into topping it off with a crepe caramel au buerre sale, too, so i'm sure that didn't help matters. we went out for a drink at the bar behind our place, and watched people tango. other than that, i've just been frantically trying to put some things together for our trip & making playlists on deezer.com (the french equivalent of pandora). today, there was a fest deiz at school (like a fest noz, but during the day), with live music and everything-minus-the-breton-beer. the students really got into it & seemed to enjoy themselves. tonight we headed over to the pixie for a goodbye drink with jo, who'll be leaving us for frankfort after the break. i knew that it was going to be a whirlwind after christmas break, but i never knew how fast things would really fly by.
oh, and something else exciting... one of my classes participated in a debate this week (in english), regarding a topic drawn out of a hat... euthanasia. and it worked. pretty exciting to know that i have some students who can pull that off.
Friday, January 30, 2009
finally busy.
i've been really terrible about writing lately, and i guess i can attribute that to being busier than normal? hopefully? anyway... i'll try to fill y'all in with what's been up here lately.
so the two weeks following x-mas break, i worked a total of four hours, due to les greves, tests that were scheduled & re-scheduled because of les greves, and god-knows-what-else. i took the opportunity to explore a little bit of the area, an afternoon in paimpol (because the weather wasn't too terrible & it was somewhere the bus goes that i have not already been), and nicolas took us up to plougrescant. paimpol was kinda like charlevoix, small & quiet, a port, tourist shops, restaurants, and pretty much a ghost town this time of year. i still clicked a few photos & it was good to get a little fresh air... the next day (or maybe two days after, i don't remember now), nicolas proposed that we (jacqueline, saskia, & myself) take a trip with him up to plougrescant (where he was going to go footing), a natural protected coastal site where there's a bunch of trails and rocks to climb on. while it's only 30 minutes or so away from here by car, the terrain is completely different... and i seriously thought we set foot on mars. crazy jagged craggy rocks & boulders & cliffs. pretty sweet. we also stopped at the cathedral in treguier on the way back. took a bunch more pictures, you know how it goes.
port a paimpol.
castel meur a plougrescant.
le gouffre, plougrescant.
then, diana, the assistant in loudeac, came to visit us for the weekend, and we went to les valseuses, the bar we like to go to that's right around the corner, wandered around lannion & checked out our local templar church, went to a fest-noz in ploubezre on saturday with saskia & jo (after realizing that it's impossible to get a cab around here... i called for one, and he was obviously at some sort of fete, and most likely inebriated), some shenanigans with breton dancing & beer & 20-year-old boys, virgine, our new french friend, stopped by to say 'salut', what else (not to be confused with the george clooney nespresso ads)... basically bummed around on sunday... when i bumped into jo at the laundromat on the way back from dropping off diana at the train station. we starved ourselves until our favorite creperie opened, dragged male & catherine along after a petite cafe mexicaine, and went all out (menu express a 8 euros!... which includes a savory galette complete and a sweet crepe). yum.
last week was fairly uneventful, though i started my new schedule, so i'm working a little more often... and i no longer have mondays & wednesdays off, but i'm done at 9am on friday... give & take, people. anywho... basically did rien du tout other than laundry & grocery shopping, in preparation for chris's visit (a friend of a co-worker from last summer) & watched the inauguration on msnbc.com (yeah, live streaming!)... it was kinda sad not to be celebrating with everyone at home, or better yet, in d.c., but at least i got to watch american coverage. it was the topic of conversation for all my new students... first question (before my name, mind you) is always, "how old are you?"... fair enough. second question: "did you vote for obama?" they're nuts about him over here... it's really kinda crazy.
arc-en-ciel, landrellec.
chris came on thursday, i made a delicious dinner of two different quiches: tomato & zucchini and traditional lorraine. we went to check out a bar called havana, where they had live music... ran into lizzy, the american girl who i randomly bump into at times, had a faxe or two... i worked bright & early the next day, but we took advantage of the nice weather & headed up to tregastel. i would've liked to stay longer, but i guess not everyone likes to hike around as much as i do. i showed him the monolithic sites at kerguntuil & we wandered to a beach called landrellec. gorgeous. the weather cooperated just enough, as i was sure it was going to downpour on us. just as we arrived at the beach, a huge rainbow shone right over the water... it was pretty incredible. that was friday, so saskia had her german class over for dinner, i mooched leftovers in the kitchen (knödel, anyone?), and she won the prize in the fete des rois cake (epiphany to us), a petite vache, or cow. she lost it almost immediately after she pranced around with it, and then exclaimed "adrienne, you ate my f*cking cow!", accusing me of scarfing down the porcelain miniature along with the rest of my meal. pretty funny, but maybe you just had to be there. we had some cidre before going out to havana again, this time for salsa dancing. not much dancing happened, but before i knew it, we had a designated ride, via catherine's salsa friend to another salsa bar, and then the discotheque, putting our arrival back to the apartment at almost 5am. you just have to be open to the possibilities of just about anything when you live around here. anyway... i danced like a crazy person... and it was good to get rid of some pent-up energy.
saturday, was pretty much wasted, i think the weather was pretty much crap, and we slept in pretty late, as to be expected. i got ready for my first-ever west african dance class in lannion. long walk, but well worth it. of course, nothing like ryan & dori's classes back home in michigan, but it felt good to be back dancing again. i bummed a ride back into town with a fellow dancer, and it turns out she's a prof at a neighboring school & knows the assistants there (who are friends of mine). crazy how small this world is. well, then it was time for dinner & a phone call from mom & the americans-in-lannion party at au bureau. it was nice to talk with our fellow countrymen (well, mostly women), and the organizer was sporting her obama badge with pride. not too long after we arrived, virginie picked us up to take us to her place to celebrate her boyfriend's birthday. she prepared tartiflette (deliciious) for 17 people (!), and there were plenty of beverages. partying with 17-20 year old boys made things interesting, and i probably shouted "con" (a*sh*le) more than necessary at their childish behavior. we ended up staying out there at her place in plouaret, and i had very long conversations in front of a warm crackling fire, while i tried to fall asleep on the couch. the next day was for me more a highlight than all the partying the night before, we went to the boyfriend's (olivier's) family's farm next-door, and i got to play with the cows & love on the puppies or chiots. his family warmly invited these strangers out of the lazy drizzle & mud to a table of aparatifs of pastis & kirs (who said starting the day at noon was a bad thing?) & the most amazing homemade pate with crusty bread. those are the experiences that you can't plan... they just happen. that night, we went out for crepes at our favorite creperie (twice in one week, that's not become a habit, i hope), with male, jo, fleur, all the roommates, chris, & bruno. it was quite fun.
chris left on tuesday, i've been dropping into paint club on mondays & tuesdays, where we're painting a mural on the walls of the local hostel. i've met a few people through that, so that's been good. i've also become slightly involved with the social group that runs out of the hostel/foyer... a little tiny bit like r.h.a., so that's been pretty excellent. other than that, i've just been trying to shake this nasty cold i've picked up somewhere, teach a little bit (mostly just working with the students on how to introduce themselves... pretty boring on both our parts... if you have any ideas to make this more fun, fill me in!), more strikes (there was a nation-wide strike on just about everything yesterday... come on, it's thursday, folks!)... that's about it. been toying with the idea of maybe renewing my contract, can't get straight answers out of the people in charge, so i just have to complain louder, until i get my way (that's how things work around here... really). was planning quite the trip for february vacation, which starts in a week, but we hadn't gotten paid yet, and prices of tickets have gone up, so now, who knows what. i'm sure i'll figure something out. well, that's about it for now... pictures & more updates to come soon!
so the two weeks following x-mas break, i worked a total of four hours, due to les greves, tests that were scheduled & re-scheduled because of les greves, and god-knows-what-else. i took the opportunity to explore a little bit of the area, an afternoon in paimpol (because the weather wasn't too terrible & it was somewhere the bus goes that i have not already been), and nicolas took us up to plougrescant. paimpol was kinda like charlevoix, small & quiet, a port, tourist shops, restaurants, and pretty much a ghost town this time of year. i still clicked a few photos & it was good to get a little fresh air... the next day (or maybe two days after, i don't remember now), nicolas proposed that we (jacqueline, saskia, & myself) take a trip with him up to plougrescant (where he was going to go footing), a natural protected coastal site where there's a bunch of trails and rocks to climb on. while it's only 30 minutes or so away from here by car, the terrain is completely different... and i seriously thought we set foot on mars. crazy jagged craggy rocks & boulders & cliffs. pretty sweet. we also stopped at the cathedral in treguier on the way back. took a bunch more pictures, you know how it goes.
port a paimpol.
castel meur a plougrescant.
le gouffre, plougrescant.
then, diana, the assistant in loudeac, came to visit us for the weekend, and we went to les valseuses, the bar we like to go to that's right around the corner, wandered around lannion & checked out our local templar church, went to a fest-noz in ploubezre on saturday with saskia & jo (after realizing that it's impossible to get a cab around here... i called for one, and he was obviously at some sort of fete, and most likely inebriated), some shenanigans with breton dancing & beer & 20-year-old boys, virgine, our new french friend, stopped by to say 'salut', what else (not to be confused with the george clooney nespresso ads)... basically bummed around on sunday... when i bumped into jo at the laundromat on the way back from dropping off diana at the train station. we starved ourselves until our favorite creperie opened, dragged male & catherine along after a petite cafe mexicaine, and went all out (menu express a 8 euros!... which includes a savory galette complete and a sweet crepe). yum.
last week was fairly uneventful, though i started my new schedule, so i'm working a little more often... and i no longer have mondays & wednesdays off, but i'm done at 9am on friday... give & take, people. anywho... basically did rien du tout other than laundry & grocery shopping, in preparation for chris's visit (a friend of a co-worker from last summer) & watched the inauguration on msnbc.com (yeah, live streaming!)... it was kinda sad not to be celebrating with everyone at home, or better yet, in d.c., but at least i got to watch american coverage. it was the topic of conversation for all my new students... first question (before my name, mind you) is always, "how old are you?"... fair enough. second question: "did you vote for obama?" they're nuts about him over here... it's really kinda crazy.
arc-en-ciel, landrellec.
chris came on thursday, i made a delicious dinner of two different quiches: tomato & zucchini and traditional lorraine. we went to check out a bar called havana, where they had live music... ran into lizzy, the american girl who i randomly bump into at times, had a faxe or two... i worked bright & early the next day, but we took advantage of the nice weather & headed up to tregastel. i would've liked to stay longer, but i guess not everyone likes to hike around as much as i do. i showed him the monolithic sites at kerguntuil & we wandered to a beach called landrellec. gorgeous. the weather cooperated just enough, as i was sure it was going to downpour on us. just as we arrived at the beach, a huge rainbow shone right over the water... it was pretty incredible. that was friday, so saskia had her german class over for dinner, i mooched leftovers in the kitchen (knödel, anyone?), and she won the prize in the fete des rois cake (epiphany to us), a petite vache, or cow. she lost it almost immediately after she pranced around with it, and then exclaimed "adrienne, you ate my f*cking cow!", accusing me of scarfing down the porcelain miniature along with the rest of my meal. pretty funny, but maybe you just had to be there. we had some cidre before going out to havana again, this time for salsa dancing. not much dancing happened, but before i knew it, we had a designated ride, via catherine's salsa friend to another salsa bar, and then the discotheque, putting our arrival back to the apartment at almost 5am. you just have to be open to the possibilities of just about anything when you live around here. anyway... i danced like a crazy person... and it was good to get rid of some pent-up energy.
saturday, was pretty much wasted, i think the weather was pretty much crap, and we slept in pretty late, as to be expected. i got ready for my first-ever west african dance class in lannion. long walk, but well worth it. of course, nothing like ryan & dori's classes back home in michigan, but it felt good to be back dancing again. i bummed a ride back into town with a fellow dancer, and it turns out she's a prof at a neighboring school & knows the assistants there (who are friends of mine). crazy how small this world is. well, then it was time for dinner & a phone call from mom & the americans-in-lannion party at au bureau. it was nice to talk with our fellow countrymen (well, mostly women), and the organizer was sporting her obama badge with pride. not too long after we arrived, virginie picked us up to take us to her place to celebrate her boyfriend's birthday. she prepared tartiflette (deliciious) for 17 people (!), and there were plenty of beverages. partying with 17-20 year old boys made things interesting, and i probably shouted "con" (a*sh*le) more than necessary at their childish behavior. we ended up staying out there at her place in plouaret, and i had very long conversations in front of a warm crackling fire, while i tried to fall asleep on the couch. the next day was for me more a highlight than all the partying the night before, we went to the boyfriend's (olivier's) family's farm next-door, and i got to play with the cows & love on the puppies or chiots. his family warmly invited these strangers out of the lazy drizzle & mud to a table of aparatifs of pastis & kirs (who said starting the day at noon was a bad thing?) & the most amazing homemade pate with crusty bread. those are the experiences that you can't plan... they just happen. that night, we went out for crepes at our favorite creperie (twice in one week, that's not become a habit, i hope), with male, jo, fleur, all the roommates, chris, & bruno. it was quite fun.
chris left on tuesday, i've been dropping into paint club on mondays & tuesdays, where we're painting a mural on the walls of the local hostel. i've met a few people through that, so that's been good. i've also become slightly involved with the social group that runs out of the hostel/foyer... a little tiny bit like r.h.a., so that's been pretty excellent. other than that, i've just been trying to shake this nasty cold i've picked up somewhere, teach a little bit (mostly just working with the students on how to introduce themselves... pretty boring on both our parts... if you have any ideas to make this more fun, fill me in!), more strikes (there was a nation-wide strike on just about everything yesterday... come on, it's thursday, folks!)... that's about it. been toying with the idea of maybe renewing my contract, can't get straight answers out of the people in charge, so i just have to complain louder, until i get my way (that's how things work around here... really). was planning quite the trip for february vacation, which starts in a week, but we hadn't gotten paid yet, and prices of tickets have gone up, so now, who knows what. i'm sure i'll figure something out. well, that's about it for now... pictures & more updates to come soon!
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