Peas and Stripes

Another good weekend...my city has been so packed with activities that I haven't even had time to/needed to visit others. I went to the book festival every day, depleting my funds on books for my future classes and recieving odd looks from the book sellers as I bought childrens books such as "Babar et les chiffres". On Friday I saw Roch Voisine in concert and there were no bouncers so you could go right up to the stage and touch his hand. It made my night when he sang Hélène during the second encore (there were three total, why didn't he just stay on stage!). This weekend I also met even more assistants that are living here; from Australia, the Canary Islands, New Zealand, and Italy to name a few. I didn't plan on drinking until almost everybody had left and there were three bottles of wine left and Roisin was the devil on my shoulder saying we were going to stay up all night and I could stay there and all of us would go out for omelettes at the Chantier. I wasn't hungry and it was 5am but there I was eating a ham omelette and greasy potatoes, trying to tell myself there wasn't eggs in it. The title of this blog comes from talks at the party with past assistants; it turns out Elizabeth was saying all day that peas don't go with stripes because the word for peas (petits pois) is like polka dots (à poids). It was either that title or "don't throw your garbage out the window"...ahh jokes. Anyways after some good times at Facotel, on Sunday I ate a humongous International dinner with my hallmates and with Simone from Germany and Alessandro from Italy. I brought the sides of chips and pop, then Monica made risotto and saffron pasta, Bastienne and Simone some ham and egg potatoes and potatoes with porc which sounds like ka-nuhd-el, and Heather fruit salad, and Alessandro tiramisu which took me back to days of mocha chip frappachinos. Ericka also made pollo with mole but she got back from Lyon later. We kept saying we were going to explode but die happy, and I did have this utter sense of calm where it was right where I wanted to be at the moment and that I didn't want it to end.

Merveilleux Mercredi

Wednesday's are my day off so since it was a beautiful day outside (I was wearing a t-shirt) I decided to take a hike to the Natural Park which I thought was called Rochetaillée and assumed there was some kind of castle along the trails. Well while walking next to the winding road that climbs the hills I finally figured out that Mont Pilat is the National Park with trails you can walk through and that Rochetailée is a small town about three kilometers further. But I was in a walking mood so I continued the six kilometers from Saint-Etienne to find a village that I could only dream of having a home someday in. Actually there was one beautfiul house that I took a picture of which had a sign on it saying "sans souci"'-no worries. And I saw the children in the house were watching me and starting waving. It was really windy up there in the hills and the castle was closed so I decided to eat in a restaurant café across the street with a view of the forest covered hills. It was the best crepe I've ever had, crepe du Mont Pilat, with basilic tomatoes, goat cheese, lettuce, and bacon. On the walk home I decided to take the trail along the highway; one to not get hit, two so the angled road didn't hurt my ankles (like when you walk along a sandy beach) and three to see some nature. Since it was a bit higher up the view was even more gorgeous and once I came upon a pretty little dandelion growing out of the slate of rock. I will have to go back once the leaves change colors because I'm sure that would be so pretty I would wish I was an artist to paint the image forever in my memory.
Then the day got even better when I saw Corinne's place in Talaudiere, just East of Saint-Et. I fed ducks with her daughters, Alice and Chloe, and once we got to her place I got a house tour and then they put on a puppet show for me (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge-Little Red Riding Hood). I would never be able to explain on here the little moments that make me smile while here in France, but especially when I am around kids and they have that innocent joy about them I have to have a good time. Plus how can I not laugh when Alice asks me in French if we have animals in America and then later thinks I'm from Africa. Later that night Corinne and I went to a Chinese dinner where my BTS students were so excited that they got to speak with me without being forced to speak in English. I have found the Stephanois really live up to their tradition of being from the patron saint of the happy people; welcoming , friendly, and an all-around good time to be with.

Le week-end

Like I said in the previous blog, I took it easy this weekend. Going to the Musée d'art et d'Industrie for free with Heather on Saturday and to other various events that were going on in the city (singers while eating paninis, signing up for clubs, watching weird transportation movies that people judge afterwords). That night was the first time I felt lonely, since mu stupid cell phone wouldn't receive calls I went to watch the spectacle de son et lumière (fireworks and laserlight show to close the tram festival) by myself. So I spent my Saturday night crying to Chris instead of going out and having fun, but I thin I needed it, ya have to have some breakdown while you're abroad. Then Sunday I explored the city a bit more, going to the market and to the Parc d'Europe and then to the café with some new assistants. I will add photos of all of this soon but the computer is moving slowly. So à bientot!
Oh I didn't explain the museum, it was really interesting to see some history of Saint-Etienne and I love to see how things are made so the ribbon-making machines were my favorite. I also liked to see the old bicycles and it was amazing to think how much work goes into putting together a bicycle spoke or getting the silk from a silkworm and then taking that bundle and making ribbon. So it was an eye-opening experience for me, making me feel even more grateful for all that I have.

le diner avec les profs d'anglais

This week I went out more than I did on the weekend; at the Chantier in my previous blog, dinner with the English teachers on Wednesday, and partying with the English assistants from around the world on Thursday night because they were all in town for our orientation. Wednesday night us teachers had the whole restaurant to ourselves and the waiter would pause to sing us songs with his acoustic guitar and to tell jokes (all of which Heather and I did not understand with how fast he talked but we enjoyed alot nonetheless). I guess I have to brush up on my French music because all of the other teachers, especially Olivier knew all of the lyrics. I guess my "salade" and "baguette" songs from Lac du Bois don't suffice. And Thursday night was so much fun with Gregor, Mike, Rob, and I being told "Bon Appetit" by a random woman as we ate our cheap pizzas outside the bakery and me almost choking with laughter because of the odd things they say. Then we went to Auchan and got 20 Heinekens and some white wine for ten euros and headed over to Mike's place and about twenty assistants packed in getting to know each other over wine and beer. The pictures can speak for themselves. Let's just say Sarah found her mug of wine again and isn't good at rationing out how fast to drink it, so she was tipsy.

New lingo

I think I am learning as many new words in English as I am in French. I went out to the Cafe Jean-Jaures and Le Chantier last night with the English speaking assistants from around the world and laughed so hard I probably turned red. My acquired words/phrases: jokes (compliments of Heather), narf (Kirsty), nobbing and other odd words for such things, chaff, and my favorite which I made a huge embarassing mistake with is muff. I said I was proud to be called a "meuf" the other day by some students which meant I am not a lady but a woman. Well in British English I guess it means pubic hair! So we had quite the laugh about that and Mike's shrunken shirts that after a few more times in the French dryers he can probably use them for finger puppets!

Se deplacer autrement

There is always an adventure if you're open to being in situations that seem surreal at the time. After being the only adult riding a camel yesterday I ended up doing puzzles and playing Top Model with a little girl that asked Heather if she would ride the camel with her. Yes I trotted around with a pillow like I was on the runway. She was so cute, calling her grapejuice wine and clinking glasses with me before drinking. If I thought it was hard to understand adults speaking French it is even harder to understand the whispers and giggles of little girl, but worth the effort, as we played Devinette. She yelled at me everytime I said "ouais" and not"oui" saying its not pretty to say yeah. I felt bad when she didn't want us to leave but we had a movie to catch. Well now I know people if I want to go to Italy and Senegal too, in a way traveling makes the world seem like its not such a large place.

La folie

Another crazy weekend, Friday seeing a hip hop concert at the Elephant Pub, called Les Gourmets (because they like to eat, one eats up their music, and Lyon where they are from is known for food). Then Saturday we went to watch breakdancing and graffiti in the Place Jean-Jaures. As usual the French were late so we ate quiche at a cafe and then saw some graffiti being done while the breakdancing floor was being set up. Suddenly an old man with gangsta written on his pants decided to do this odd zen like strecthing for two hours! And nobody stopped him so I thought he was getting ready to dance but he never did, and finally when the dancers came they had to pull him off the stage! The dancers were really good but it was a long wait of watching that man for a short show. The streets were packed with the tram strike and all of the festivities for the extramuros festival. We went back to the Hotel de Ville right when it was time for the parade and I can't put it into words because it was so random but at the same time must have been carefully planned out. You actually were a part of the parade walking with the actors and musicians of the Halloween-like circus. Dancing with them, taking pictures with them, being blinded by their flares. It was very surreal, and then it all came together at the train station where acrobats were pulled up in the air and performed on steel birds and anchors and chairs. Even with pictures and words I can't explain it, but it makes me not as excited for next year's Detroit Thanksgiving Parade.