Hiya Mate!

Last night I had convinced myself that I didn't need to go to a gathering of assistants for a bring your-own-picnic lunch. I still wasn't feeling very well, I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't know anyone who would be there (both assistants for St. Priest are out of town). I went to bed with a different kind of schedule in mind for my Saturday. Of course, I woke up to beautiful picnic weather. I thought, what the heck, I have to eat lunch sometime... and I don't have to stick around if it's lame and if I get lost and can't find it, then tant pis, it wasn't meant to be.

Well, wouldn't you know it! I had a great time! I got off the metro to a beautiful neighborhood I

haven't explored yet. I found a boulangerie to buy a quick picnic lunch. I got a little side-tracked by a really pretty church and then asked a nice family for directions to the Parc de la Tete d'Or. I found the entrance way I was supposed to meet at, saw a beautiful park, took a few pictures, sucked it up, and went over to a few girls speaking English. Of course they were some other English teachingassistants... and they just all happened to be British. They were from different parts of Northern England and had excellent accents. They were also all really sweet. As time went on, more

and more assistants came. There were probably 30 or more of us by the time we found a spot to sit to eat our lunches.

After we ate and met a few more people, someone from the big

group suggested going to visit the zoo, also located inside the park. We all got up, decided to swap phone numbers (me and the Brits), and before we knew it, the entire group was pretty much gone. So me and the other girls headed off in a similar direction and eventually found our way to the zoo. We saw the giraffes first, which one of the girls (Hannah) thought were just statues... and they were really still, but then they moved and we all cracked up laughing. I'm sure that doesn't seem very funny to you now, it was

a "had to be there" kind of moment, but I realized that it was probably the first time I'd laughed with friends in person in at least a week and a half (well, besides laughing with Laura about Laurence's English skills).

So needless to say, I am so happy to have met such wonderful people. I was hesitant at first about meeting more English speakers... as I am here to hone my French, but I guess I'm still gaining an interesting cultural experience by hanging out with them! (Hiya mate is my new favorite British thing to say, with a bad British accent of course). And, one girl (Caroline) mentioned that once we make real French-people friends that maybe we can all get together to be friends with the Frenchies. (Side note- The girls, Caroline, Helen, and Hannah, are all here in their 3rd year of Uni., as they call it, for their mandatory year abroad. So they are trying to hone their French almost more than I am! And, second side note- they didn't know each other prior to today, so all new friends!).

Anyway, after the zoo, we kept walking and found the botanical gardens portion of the park (this park is huge!). After a few pictures, we decided we should probably head back to the metro.

Some of us were headed in the same direction for at least part of the way, so we rode together. I got off to take my tram back, and saw that my tram wouldn't be there for another 15 minutes... and that it would be disrupted halfway through the trip (due to, you guessed it, another strike). So I ran to get back on the metro heading a different direction to go around the part that would be disrupted and then back onto a tram stop closer to my apartment. It took me twice as long to get home, but I

got home eventually, just in time to make most of my video-chat date with Vic. Yay!

I also got to video chat with my family (all of them! Leslie was even home visiting), I got a postcard in the mail from Celeste (yay thanks Kelso!), and made dinner. I tried my best as making my salad aesthetically pleasing... what do you think?

Miss you all! Reste cool:)