Earlier in the day, I went down to do my laundry. Although I was pretty winded by the time I got to the laundromat, I made it a-ok. I even stuck my laundry in the washer and went to get myself a little pastry as a reward for my efforts. I ordered a chocolate croissant, which is different than a pain au chocolat or what I usually get for breakfast.... a chocolate croissant is a regular croissant laced with milk chocolate on the inside and dipped in chocolate on the ends. It was actually my first tasting... and it was heavenly. I skipped the drying process because all dryers were in use.... and huffed up my 5 flights of stairs with my wet laundry.
I had told myself I needed to go to my Tuesday school just to use the computers/printer to do lesson plans anyway when Sabine called. She actually picked me up from there at 3:45ish.... and soon after she told me she needed to stop by the library first. So we went there.... she returned some books and looked for a few others.... About 4:30, we made it to the school where she needed to arrange her classroom for Monday morning. She works at mi-temps, so only 2 days a week. Tuesdays and Fridays there is another teacher in her classroom.... and in order for the room to be presentable for her observation on Monday, she needed to come in Friday afternoon. I sorta just hung around... talked to the other teachers who asked if I had recovered from la grippe. It was actually kind of nice to see them after being at home alone all week.
We eventually left the school, once Sabine had arranged the room and picked up some papers to grade. We drove to her house, which is in a little village called Genas, not far from Saint-Priest. It's definitely a little bit more in the country with bigger houses than Saint-Priest... and therefore not as well connected to public transportation, but it looked like a cute place to live. Sabine has a very pretty house and 5 kids- 4 girls and 1 boy. 2 are from a previous marriage on her end, 2 are from a previous marriage on the husband's side... and they have a little 2 year old girl named Lisa.
When we first got there, the husband, Philippe came out of the house on his way to pick up Lisa from the day care center just a few blocks down the street. They asked if I wanted to go too... to see what a real day care center in France was like. So we walked down the street, passing the brand new elementary school (named the Nelson Mandela school) right next to the brand new and very nice day care facility. The parents had to put on these little shoe coverings like they were at a hospital before going into the play area. It was fairly hilarious to see all these fashionable moms and dads come in and put on these little booties over their high heels and boots. LOL. (Side story: While I was there, another teacher from my Monday school came in and was like... Lindsay? What are you doing here? I was like... oh I'm just here with Sabine. I bet it was really odd to see me there.)
Once we had Lisa (who had spots all over her from her recent bout with Chicken Pox), we came back to the house where I met one of the older daughters. I guess it is a form of manners to do the double cheek kiss to new comers because the children and the husband did it to me.... but it always throws me off. We all sat and had a cup of tea.... and eventually Sabine and I got to work (being interrupted a few times with the kids being picked up to spend the weekend with their other parents).
We got all planned... and it was nice to talk and lesson plan with someone who isn't afraid of English. We spoke mostly in French and she kindly told me that my French has improved so much since I've been here. The reason she speaks and is so comfortable with English, though, is because she did the same thing I'm doing in England, she lived in Costa Rica for a period of time teaching English, and she's been to visit the US several times. She also used to only teach English before they mandated that all teachers teach English as regular classroom subject. She's by the most eager to teach English on her own and often says that she wishes her colleagues would try to speak more English with me to improve for themselves so that they could eventually have lunch time conversations in English. Perhaps I will give them a push and proclaim that I've had enough speaking French and that I would like to only speak in English now....
Anywho, Sabine invited me to stay for dinner with Philippe and Lisa. With the house mostly empty, I think they thought it would be fun to entertain me for the evening. They made kirs and set out little crackers for a snack. After we sat and chatted for a bit, they told me they didn't have anything to make for dinner and would be going out, obviously I'd be coming too. We went to a little restaurant connected to a hotel that was Italian. It wasn't the best food I've had in France, but it was still good and free meal so I won't complain! They were such a cute little couple to chat with.... leaving in turns to take Lisa to the bathroom because she is already potty training.
After dinner, they drove me home.... and I got back about 11:30pm. This explains why I haven't had much time to blog! It was a nice evening, just very unexpected... as I thought I'd lesson plan for an hour or two in the afternoon and be back home before 5. Oh well- I think I needed a good night out... and I learned a new term of endearment: puce which means flea.... Sabine kept calling her daughter "ma puce, ma puce..." Ahh my little flea:)
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