Day 41: or The Day I Should Have Packed

Leaving in less than 2 days, and I am unpacked. I've thought about what needs to be done and I've purchased what I didn't have. I just need to put it in a bag. But when you have no idea what to expect, it makes a simple task daunting. I'll tackle this conundrum tomorrow.


I made an omelet for dinner tonight. One thing here is that they eat eggs for lunch and dinner but not so much breakfast. Which suite me just fine as breakfast is the best meal of the day. I added the usual cheese and bacon. But their bacon isn't our bacon, it's more just fatty pieces of ham, but i'll take what I can get. Then I added salsa to the eggs. I prefer it mixed in and cooked than on top, and I figured this way the kids couldn't avoid their veggies. They said they liked it. Always with the tone of surprise.


French class was hard again. We go around the class taking turns, and I swear I understand until it's my turn. Obviously it's mental, but it's frustrating.

Day 34: or The Day The Weather Cooperated

On Facebook, all anyone can talk about is the weather.The snow, the cold, the blackouts, the snow days. Today was lovely here. The sun was out, it got up to 48' and I even contemplated going out without a jacket. I of course wimped out and wore one, but I hesitated none the less. I feel for you freezing folk. In a month, you all will be basking in your spring weather and it will still be cold here, but for now, I'm going to appreciate the lovely day.


I had class today but didn't leave feeling much better about my French. When having a very basic conversation, I can get by and I feel ok, but listening to these other women go off is difficult. Some of them have lived here for years, and just come to class to get help and improve. I'm glad I'm challenged, but I want to make sure I'm learning. The Dad was talking to me today about how I need to start speaking more French or I won't get any better. That's all well and good except for the fact that I'm supposed to be improving the kids' English. Can't speak two languages at once. I've gotta work something out. It's one of the reasons I like going to bars though. You get to meet people who speak no English and have very basic small talk. It's just nice to practice.


I made pizza again tonight. It was an improvement to last time. I added mushrooms, delicious. Hopefully tomorrow will be lovely as well.

Day 24: or The Day I Was The Only One In Class

Ok, so it was only for 15 minutes, but I had to sit with the teacher speaking French for 15 minutes. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. But I stumble my way through a coherent conversation. The frustrating thing is, when I feel like I'm not speaking fast enough, I make easy mistakes and sound like I never took  French a day in my life. Then, when everyone does show up, they feel the need to "help" by whispering the answer to me. Let me paint you a picture. There are 5 women in the room, everyone else is around age 40, and we are all sitting around a table with a 4ft diameter. When one of them whispers an answer to me, do you think there is any way the other three didn't hear it. No. The answer is no. And this isn't even when I looked stumped, just when I pause to make sure I'm getting it right. Not only do I not want there help because I'm actually trying to learn something, but while attempting to help, they manage to make me look like a complete ignoramus. Mildly stressful. But by the end of class, I was able to contribute some thoughts to the conversation, like the fact that my cousin named her son Jonas, but that it was not in fact a reference to that terrible "band". I'm not exactly sure why that came up. Oh yes, when explaining my name, because there is no Caitlin in French, I said that my Mother was none to pleased with the popularity after she picked it for me. Which got us talking about other children's names and so on and so forth. Class dismissed.