I also now have a cell phone in France! The number is +33 06 12 71 80 40. So now you guys can call me and it won't cost me a thing... Of course, I still have skype and love getting voice messages from everyone.

Oh la vache!

A few pictures of the "plan d'eau Courtille" which is like Gueret's equivalent of Lake Calhoun. People running, walking, basking in the sun, picnicking... I walked all the way around it this morning and took some pictures of the stunning country side. The town is built in the hills and has tiny little pedestrian alley ways everywhere. People smile and welcome me wherever I go.

I feel the space of this spot in the world and it is a breath of fresh air. I woke up this morning to the sound of screaming French kids outside my bedroom window (since my apartment is upstairs from the school, I really do look out onto the playground!). I brought Grandma Nita's Hatha Yoga book and started reading it today. I wanted to share a paragraph that I especially connected with:

"We are constantly in a state of 'becoming,' and we make choices every day as to what we experience, as to our thoughts, our relationships with other people and the environment--even as to rest, exercise, and nutrition--which influence what we become. Be conscious of these choices as you make them. None of them are unimportant. All add up to what you are and will be."

-Nita Nickerson, Hatha Yoga: Class Notes

I liked it because, so often, when us young things go off to Europe or on other worldly expeditions, it is with the purpose of "finding ourselves, " and that hasn't resonated with me, because I know where I am, and where I've come from. Creating ourselves even with the food we choose to put inside our bodies, the people we surround ourselves with, and all other choices we make and then being aware of this can be a powerful, scary, and wonderful experience.

I also included a leftover picture from Florence... Rachel and I got creative in the hotel room.







Waking up for the second day in the Creuse, having spent my first day and night in Gueret! I went with my program director, Evelyne, to the inspection academique, where she works. We had a few visits to apartments and moved me into the apartment above a primary school annex.

Unfortunately, this is only for the month, but it is lovely and huge! The kitchen over looks a large garden and my bedroom has a view of the IUFM, and old building that houses conferences and teachers in training, and a view of the valley. I think the bathroom was made for about 16 people, and you can fit as many into the tub. There are four bedrooms set up with little twin beds... oh the things I could do with this space if it were mine!

I've already pulled out my African fabric duvet cover that Grandma Ann made for me, and Rachel bought me a scarf in Italy which I'm using to cover my desk. All my pictures are up and smiling at me... I miss you, home! Alas, I will move somewhere else at the end of the month, I am hoping that this will be enough time to get a feel for the city and find a darling apartment on the top floor of some building on the hill.

After d'avoir m'installee in my aparment, I accompanied Evelyne throughout her work day, though most of her work was helping me move in to Gueret, introducing me to everyone in the office and the teachers I will be working with, taking me to lunch with her and her colleagues.

We went to a restaurant called Le Moderne, right on Place Bonnyaud in the center of town. Everybody seems to know or at least recognize Evelyne, so spending the day with her was a little like walking into Cheers with Kirsty Allen.

Another woman, who is on the verge of retirement (and also being my adopted grandmother while living here), Catherine, asked me what I needed to get settled and promptly took me to her apartment to collect pillows, little bonne maman jams (she was excited to tell me she stole these), coffee pot and sheets. She took me to the grocery store and helped me pick out some food, letting me know which brand she thought was the best. It reminded me of shopping with Deanna, which put a smile on my face.

I spent a few hours making my space a little more homey, and then went about the task of reading the materials I had gathered from the office of tourism. There is indeed a giant labyrinthe outside of the city, as well as a wolf park. There are about a fafillion equestrian centers in this region alone. Not far from my apartment there is the Espace Fayolle, which is Gueret's community center. It has a pool and painting classes, salsa lessons, pottery, WiFi :), music lessons for little kids... and a lot more. We are at the foothills of the Massif Central here in Gueret, not far from skiing and mountain hiking, and mountain biking. The autoroute that passes through here is one that connects Switzerland to the sea, and is aptly named something like "Suissemer..."

Another assistant, Kendra from Michigan, arrived from the USA yesterday and is staying with me until her apartment in La Souterraine is ready. She and I immediately started chatting it up, decided to go find a pay phone and an open restaurant at 8pm on Monday night. Anywhere else in the world, something might be open, but Sundays AND Mondays are the days that Gueret closes up shop during the week. No matter, we found wood oven pizza with all the veggies we could want and a bottle of rose, both which we brought back to the apartment and savoured...

Kendra brought a guitar, which she started learning how to play in January. We shared some pictures and stories, and then started singing and playing together. We sang, and got through American Pie in its entirety. Some Beatles songs, of course, and then a few songs by bands I've not heard of. It was a lovely first evening in Gueret.

Today, we're going to go buy cellphones, find an internet connection, and then go to the enormous "pond," Etang Courtille, and have a picnic with our leftover pizza. Wednesday will be another free day, and Thursday we start our classroom observations.

I'm just loving every minute of this experience, and in part because I have such wonderful support from home. Thank you for encouraging me to embark on such a great adventure.

Wow! This trip just keeps getting better! I spent the morning feeling dirty from the night train, and trying to catch up on all that is happening in the news. I haven't had a chance to watch the debate, but as soon as I have some down time, its on.

I committed sacrilege this morning: I went to Starbucks and had English breakfast tea and sat on my computer. Notre Dame was out the window, but I just had to indulge myself a little in preparation of actually starting my year here. Because, lets face it, up until now it has been a crazy vacation with one of my best girls.

My friend Mady, the girl I went to Africa with, is studying in Paris this semester and arrived there yesterday after spending two weeks in Cannes. Poor her. So, I met Mady at La Fontaine St. Michel, a place I always met up with friends when I was studying at the Sorbonne. She brought her roommate, Lauren, a cute girl from San Diego, and we all three went to lunch together.

Mady is away from her language and food for the first time ever, and it is pooping her out! She is living with Lauren in an apartment in the 5th arrondissement. It is a homestay situation and her famille d'acceuil is an older Jewish widower who keeps kosher, which means the girls have to, too. Ouch.

The girls accompanied me to fetch my luggage and to Gare Austerlitz. It was so great to witness Lauren's first viewing of the Eiffel Tower. We were walking down the street from the Pantheon, the Jardin Luxembourg in front of us and just the tip of the tower in sight, she gasps and says "Oh! I think I just died a little!" What a magical moment for her, Mady was slightly amused :)

Mady and I spent the rest of the afternoon together at a cafe outside of the station and caught up, talked and made plans to visit each other this semester. I'm looking forward to becoming familiar with this region so that I can properly introduce it to everyone who is planning on visiting me.

I took a train from Paris to a city that starts with a V but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it is. Honest to God, I would look at the ticket, close it, and immediately forget the city name. I kept saying viognier, or vazeer, or va va voom. I waiting on the platform and V-ville for an hour and caught another train to La Souterraine.

Evelyne, the program director picked me up and whisked me off to her house, introduced me to her husband and had dinner ready for me. There's a woodburning stove in the house, the kitchen reminds me of Grandma Nita's farm kitchen, and I immediately felt at home.

Tomorrow, I will go meet my "boss," get settled in a living situation that is for teachers in training, meet another assistant teacher and get to know Gueret! Wednesday, Kendra from Michigan (the other assistant) and I will do some tourism in Gueret and get to know each other, and Thursday I get to go to school!

I was talking about the job and the students with Evelyne tonight at dinner, and it just seems like the best situation I could think of. I will be with 7,8, and 9 year olds and spend the first week or so observing different schools and classrooms to get a feel for how the education system works here. After that I will be teaching on my own, though the French teacher will always be in the room with me. All I can say is bladow!

Another amendment to previously assumed information about my year abroad: according to Evylene, the city of Gueret is 30,000 in size, so not as small as originally thought, but it is the smallest prefecture in France. She has two daughters, one who teaches in Gueret and one who lives in Clermont-Ferrand (the city where all the music is happening). Apparently I can just hitch a ride there with her daughter, how cool is that?

I am obviously being well taken care of, and it feels nice to be winding down my traveling and on my way to settling into this great thing. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see my new home!

Mama Pajama

Oy! My week in Italy with Rachel has ended too quickly and with a few tears. Our time in Florence was full of adventure, including, but not limited to, theft, inebriation, "cultural experiences" (at least two a day!), shopping, dancing to Simon and Garfunkel in a Piazza at 9 in the morning AND at the train station, a carousel, Irish pub(s), funeral arrangements, and midnight mass. We made the glorious mistake of getting a hotel room all to ourselves and spent a good part of the day and night in it, drinking champagne, washing our undies in the sink, unpacking and repacking our stinky bags, and generally attempting to recover the previous three days.

We went to a restaurant on the other side of the River Arno, where Laura had spent some time when she was studying here in Florence. Ristorante Celestino was delicious and I think Britches and I barely made it home we were so full. I was surprised and intrigued to find horse meat and calf brains on the menu. Because Rachel and I were planning to share, and her face turned a pale shade of green at the thought of those particular dishes, I decided I'd have to come back for my gastronomical adventure.

We went to our "last supper" together where the waiter was a pro-McCain pro-Texas Italian man named Franco, and the restaurant was large enough to house the entire Italian mob. I had a dish with wild boar, and we finished our meal with a shot of Limoncello. We toasted our fathers and mothers, and in all forms.

We didn't go see the David, but we did take a lewd picture or two in front of the replica which stands in the original place of the real thing; outside in a piazza. We made it inside the beautiful Duomo, which is almost more impressive from the outside. Inside, there were votive trees where we each lit some candles: one for us, one for all the people who have helped us to be who we are, and one for our future. On our way out we heard drums and a canon going off and, as Rachel calls them, "mount-me's," or mounted officers. We stumbled smack dab in to the middle of a funky little parade. The men were wearing tights and cute shoes and funny hats, and they kept shooting a canon in the air.


Perhaps its because Rachel comes from the Dougherty funeral family, and my man is a mortician, but all day every day we would remember something that we wanted to have happen at our funerals and tell each other. It started with our processional song: The Body Electric from Fame for Rachel, and, of course, Me and Julio by Simon and Garfunkel for me. This conversation turned into what we would be buried with, what would be consumed at our services... I suppose when you're so blissfully happy with everything in your life, the idea of dying isn't so terrifying.

Traveling with a friend is a true testament to the strength of the relationship, as anyone knows you can not just travel with ANYONE. I have been blessed with a friend I can not only travel with, but have a damn good time with too!