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Published: February 24th 2008
Hi-Ho Silver
Last week I went and watched Elsa and Laurence at Horse Back riding. Then I fell in a bush. Give me a break, I was still medicated!Well, I’m almost over my bronchitis and back to teaching at full strength instead of just standing at the front of the room and hacking up a lung. The weather here in Pau has been absolutely gorgeous for the past week (I’m almost afraid to type that…I don’t want to jinx anything!), which has probably helped with my “guerrison”, or healing process.
Monday and Tuesday left me feeling pretty wiped out, since it was the first time I’d been on my feet in about a week, but by Wednesday I was starting to feel like my old self again. On Monday, I played “Simon Says” with my 4eme Euros to help them work on the imperative. In France, they call it “Jacques a dit” or “Jack Said”. After classes on Tuesday, I went and got a much-needed hair cut…my first one since November. For once, I’m really really happy with it, and don’t feel like I overpaid. It’s still not as good as having Kathy cut my hair, but it’s the best I’m likely to get over here, I guess. Even after cutting it, it’s still much longer than it’s been in about 2 years.
On Wednesday, I had
Photo 11
My new haircut to come up with something to make for the traditional “treat” that I always bring my kids at Clermont on the last day before break. I didn’t really feel like scooping out a million cookies, so I decided to make fudge. I tried to make each batch a little “American”, so I made dark chocolate with pecans, white chocolate with cranberries, and peanut butter. They all turned out really well, although the chocolate was a little softer than I would have liked because I didn’t let it boil long enough. Later that afternoon, Sabine’s friend Alice came over to talk with me. She’s hoping to go get a Master’s in the US in Comparative Literature, and so she had some questions about the US university system and what I knew about different programs. It was so great to have a fellow literature nerd to talk to again! We talked about Francis Ponge, Mallarme, Hugo, Samuel Johnson, Hemmingway...it was great! After dinner that night, Sabine asked me if I wanted to go out for a drink to celebrate with her, because she’d passed her university exams (as if there were any doubt). We went to the Bd des Pyrenees, but it
Ruska
Enjoying what little snow could be seen was pretty dead, and the few people that were around were tuned into the soccer match, so we decided to make plans to go out the next night with Bastian, who had not passed his exams but apparently didn’t care enough to let this stop that from celebrating.
Thursday I had a very easy day of teaching because I just got to listen to the oral reports my kids had written on the United States and England. No, I wasn’t the mean professor that made them research and write oral reports; I was just there to help grade grammar and pronunciation. Luckily, there wasn’t too much for me to correct, as most of the groups had done a very thorough job. The absolutely loved the fudge, as well, and as I was sitting there listening to their presentations it hit me hard how very much I’m going to miss them when my time here is up. These kids have really become my reason for living this year, and the thought of leaving them just tears me apart. The presentations also made me feel better because it proved to me that even native speakers make mistakes in French. Virginie and
Pyrenees
Because you can never have too many pictures of the mountains Camille had been under the mistaken impression that Las Vegas was in California (an impression shared by 95% of the French population, I might add), and by way of apology Virginie attempted to write on the board “On s’est trompe”, which means “we were mistaken”. Instead, she wrote “On sait trompe”, which means, “We know how to cheat.”
That night, Sabine and I biked to the University to meet up with Bastian, and then we stood around for a while being indecisive about what we wanted to do next. Finally, Bastian took us to his favorite bar, and we hung out there for a couple hours listening to him tell us stories about all the times he’s been yelled at by his parents for too much partying. Then, around midnight, way past my normal old-lady bedtime, we headed to the foot of the chateau to go to a nightclub called “Bindy”. It was rather strange to be biking through the streets of Pau at midnight, but also a lot of fun. Luckily, I hadn’t had anything to drink at the bar, because even when I’m sober my biking skills are less than stellar. I shudder to think what the
Ski Station
with a significant lack of skiers experience might have been had I been in less than peak condition. En route, we ran into some friends of Sabine and Bastian’s from the university. First, they asked Sabine if she’d “Had her semester”, as they say in French. Yes, she had. Then, they asked Bastian. No, he hadn’t, but who really cared? Then, they asked me, and I told them I wasn’t at the University. “Oh,” said one of them, keying in on my accent “foreign!” So then they asked where I was from, and as soon as I said I was American…”oh, cheeseburgers!” Sigh. Once we got to the nightclub though, we actually had a really good time. Bastian, being one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life, kept us entertained with his dance moves circa 1983. He also served as our protector if any guys got too close or creepy, complete with arm waiving and secret service impressions. The music was mostly American, as you might guess, but one song I never expected to hear in a discotheque was Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. I think the French like it so much because it doesn’t matter that they can’t understand the words….neither can
Chapel
The little church in the town where Patrick grew up anyone else. By the time we finally got home, it was 3 in the morning, and I was exhausted, but it was still a great evening.
Saturday, since the weather was absolutely sublime, I spent my afternoon walking around town and, less pleasantly, replacing the cell phone charger that I’d lost. See, my phone is a Toshiba, which apparently only made cell phones in France for about 3 months before all their products got discontinued. Result: No one has a charger that works with their phones. All the boutiques I went to tested with Motorola and Samsung chargers to no avail. Finally, a helpful guy at the “Clinic des portables” managed to find a model that worked, but it was only available in the cigarette lighter version. This meant I had to go to yet ANOTHER boutique to buy an adaptor to go with the charger…but at least I have a working cell phone again! After soaking up the sun in Place Clemenceau for a while, I went to the Meliees to see a film. It was called “Peur du Noir” or “Fear of the Dark”, and it definitely wins the creepy award for films I’ve seen this year. Don’t get me wrong; it was a really good film…just the kind of thing guaranteed to give you nightmares. It’s an animated film all in black and white, and the concept is that 6 great graphic artists have brought their fears to life in these short little montages that make up the film. Some are more disturbing than others, but the animation is beautifully done and really impressive. Each artist has such a unique style that the film is like eating a fine box of mixed chocolates, except without those annoying maple creams that no one really likes. I highly recommend it as long as you don’t mind squirming in your seat a little. Later that night I watched “Step Up”, with the girls, which has as its only really redeeming feature the fact that it was filmed in Baltimore (you can see the Domino’s Sugar factory in the background).
Sunday, I went with Christine, Patrick, Elsa, and Laurence to Lourdes and a ski station in the Pyrenees. Because it’s been so warm, there wasn’t any snow to speak of, but we still had a good time walking around and checking out the breathtaking views. Every day when I see the Pyrenees mountain chain on my way to work, I remember how lucky I am to live here. Patrick’s mother came with us, and gave me lessons in French “argot” or “slang”, all morning. We had lunch at a little ski place, where we had some delicious lamb and white beans, followed by a warm blueberry and raspberry tart for dessert. We also saw a beautiful old church that used to be a monastery in the 12th century. On the way back from the ski station, we stopped in Lourdes. Lourdes is the second biggest Catholic pilgrimage site, after Rome. This year is the 150th anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s appearance to Bernadette in the grotto of Lourdes. People go there to be healed by the supposedly miraculous waters, to pray to the Virgin, and to visit the enormous cathedral that was built on top of the grotto. I don’t have any pictures from Lourdes, because I didn’t want to be disrespectful and snap photos at a site of religious homage, but the cathedral is very impressive to see. Still, as with anything that attracts a lot of visitors, the town has become vastly commercial and touristy. As Laurence put it “On dirait un parc d’attraction” or “it’s like being at an amusement park!”. Besides the huge Cathedral, there’s also an “Underground Cathedral”, where the Pope preaches Mass when he’s in town. I’m so lucky to live with such a nice family that takes me to such neat places around France. I don’t want to think about leaving them any more than I want to think about leaving my kids.
My next update will be coming from London. I’m going to visit Laura Hoyer-Booth for a few days and revel in English lit nerdiness while she’s at work. I can’t wait to go see the house where Samuel Johnson lived near Fleet Street, or the bookshop where he first met James Boswell! Will’s Coffee House is gone, but I can still see the street where it used to be, and where Dryden and Addison hung out and wrote scathing satires about their fellow 18th century wits. Yes, I am aware that this paragraph has just completely destroyed what little esteem you may have had for me, but I’ll take the risk if it means I can visit Johnson’s grave in Westminster Abbey. Some people get excited about Big Ben. I get excited about Ben Johnson. Some people want Picadilly, I want Pope. Deal with it. Once the London adventure is over, I’ll be heading to Paris to catch up with some friends and eagerly await my parents and brother, who are arriving on the 3rd. I can only imagine the stories I’ll have to tell after our European adventure!
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Elizabeth
non-member comment
London?!
For the record, when I saw the "O Rare Ben Johnson" marker at Westminster, I jumped up and down, squealing and doing Jimmy's seal impression. I also had about the same reaction when I realized that I could touch Dickens and Handel at the same time. Also, your hair is super hot. You look like an awesome french flapper---but a cute respectable one, not a sketchy bootlegging one. :)