Advertisement
Published: October 9th 2006
Taking a break from our bicyclettes
Shiz and me in the Marais on the bike tourBonjour tout le monde! A lot has happened since I last wrote, so here we go.
After Paris and the bed bugs, Shelly and I went to Chatellerault, the town where she will be living and teaching this year. True to the theme of this trip, our taxi never arrived, causing us to miss the train and forcing us to buy another ticket. Once finally in Chatellerault, we were greeted by Isabelle Proust (Shiz's contact prof) and her husband who took us back to their house for the night. Isabelle cooked the best dinner I'd had in ages. Their house was lovely and tucked away in the country and served as a diner of sorts for all the local cats . . . wild and domestic. In fact, Isabelle and her husband informed us that they feed about 12-15 cats a day, several of which are allowed on the furniture, including the bed on which we slept. So after escaping the bed bugs in Paris, we came face to face with fleas in Chatellerault. Fortunately they are not nearly as formidable a foe.
After 3 or 4 days there, which I'm sure Shelly will describe in greater detail, we
2 euros for a candle
Shizz lights a prayer candle in Notre Dame braved the biggest monsoon in France's history and travelled the high speed train to Poitiers for orientation. The train took 10 minutes. Waiting for a cab in the rain once we got there took about 40. Nevertheless, we made it to the Auberge de Jeunesse and met up with our fellow English, Spanish, and German assistants.
Orientation was a mixed bag. Confusing and frustrating because all the important information regarding insurance and pay was in French, but good because we met and got to know the other folks.
Thursday, my roommate, Louisa (Spanish), and I arrived in Confolens. The town is very beautiful, very quaint, and very friendly. There isn't much nightlife, but I'm okay with that. The downtown area, centre ville if you will, has some very cute stores and great bakeries. After all, this is France.
Louisa speaks some English, but as we are here in France to improve our French, we only use French together. So far we've done some exploring, cooking, movie watching, etc. She is a great cook and even took care of me this weekend when I got the flu. (Shelly got in during orientation, it stinks).
This week I
What's the big fuss about?
After Shelly's careful strategizing, we were able to view the entire Louvre in just 20 minutes. 6 months my foot. am observing classes and learning the routine. Thursday I'll start teaching in the lycée (high school) and Monday I'll start in the collège (middle school). Tonight I am going to a scuba diving class taught by one of the English teachers . . . I am so pumped to have a social engagement!
Okay, that's all for now. I have regular internet access now, so please email me and let me know how you are! Nothing takes care of homsickness like hearing from the ones you love . . .
à bientot mes amis!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.081s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0338s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jenny
non-member comment
Bed bugs, fleas, and ze flu! oh my! ma faible kelly. eet makes me so heppy to know zhet yoo 'ave a wdroomate zhet weel tekh cawre ov yoo! dig the beautiful pictures. miss you all the time. teach those french kids an american-french accent for me. good luck in class! -jenny