Les choristes

My favorite experiences abroad seem to depend on the people I am with and the spontaneity of the situation. Yesterday was a wonderful day with friendly inquisitive students, then laughs about "fesses et agendas" with my hallmates, and a spontaneous walk that took me past dragon shaped gutters and led me to an old man with a beautiful huskie that taught me the rules of Boules Lyonnaise as we watched some vieux Stephanois play the sport. But things turned even more interesting at nightfall when instead of meeting the other English speaking assistants I chose to check out the chorale Bruno was talking about. In an old Bistrot (which was impossible to find even with asking two teenagers, a motoscooter guy, and a pizza maker) there was a choir practice of people involved in the CNT which I come to find is a Union but not offiliated with any specific enterprise. They call themselves"Les Barricades" and they perform what they call revolutionary music for events such as La Fete du Livre and for the Musee de la Mine. They welcomed me in automatically, as I tried to follow the Sopranos along in their various tunes sung in French, Spanish, and Greek. The songs and harmonies were beautiful, but it was the comradery that was gorgeous. Joking with each other, lighting lighters to slow songs, traversing the room as they sang El Pueblo Unido and raising fists. The times I am surrounded by the true French culture where things aren't dumbed down for my FSL mind is what I love most because it is authentic and I feel like an honoured guest, a tourist in the chouir room and in the potatoe farms of the countryside. And so when I get asked a question like the one today in my classroom, like what do I prefer in France and what do you think of French people, its hard to express why I love it because I love the French language and culture for it being itself. Just the way I love my family, Chris, and my friends, for who they are naturally, and especially including imperfections because that is what makes life interesting.