The last ten days...

... have been insanely busy and yet, not a whole lot has really happened. I got applications off to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Michigan State University (both of which required a lot of paperwork to be sent in ... so they involved a lot of running around and time spent in the post office.

[Random tangent: when I went to the post office last Monday to send these things it took me 40 minutes! I went to a totally empty post office and asked a very nice man for help, was handed 2 envelopes and 4 packing slips along with 2 other forms, and by the time I had filled everything out there was literally a line out the door. Why did all of Orléans feel the need to mail something at 3 in the afternoon on Monday? Who knows. But I had to wait in the damn line too ... grrr.]

I still have two more to complete - but they are almost done and all online (yay!).

Two Sundays ago we had a lovely, large, Thanksgiving celebration. A lot of people came to celebrate and brought all kinds of food! A lot of it was the traditional American fare, but the two Spaniards made a Spanish omelet (which is a very delicious potato, ham and cheese thing), and the Germans brought a very delicious cheese dip and there were all kinds of amazing treats! The food was delicious, the company was amazing and it was an all around good time! I got there at 4:45 and finally left at 9 - it was really fun to see everyone and share a great meal together. For most of the people there it was their first Thanksgiving - so it was really cool to watch so many first timers stuff themselves silly! What an awesome tradition.

On Tuesday the Marche de Nöel (Christmas market) opened - and it’s amazing! We’ve been watching this thing being built for the last month - so to see everything finally open and lit up was awesome! In the middle is a big ice skating rink set up around my favorite monument - the Joan of Ark statue and all around it is little wooden booths filled with stuff! Some booths sell food (i.e. a lot of sausages, churros and vin chaud (essentially mulled wine)). Some booths sell little nativity figurines while others sell sweaters and jewelry. It’s pretty amazing. I was expecting a lot more traditional or craft products, but it’s still cool. Next week an artisanal market opens up (which I think will be a lot of craft products - I hope there are ornaments!) and after that a fair trade market opens up. There’s also a little Santa’s village - which Caitlin, Seamus and I were really excited to see ... but Santa is a creeper! He looks like the scariest, most uninviting guy ever! Needless to say, we did not sit on Santa’s lap.

Wednesday I woke up feeling pretty awful. I had noticed a sore throat creeping up and my voice was a bit shaky on Tuesday, but I thought it would be fine. Well, surprise, surprise, it turned into a pretty nasty cold. Wednesday I only teach two classes - one that I love and one that feels like torture. My first group is the painful one - they are terminals (high school seniors) and they could care less. There are several students who are great, but there are 3 boys who really throw off the dynamic. Well, my teacher death stare has been improving as of late - and they got the full works last Wednesday. I had to threaten to throw two of them out - but they did finally settle down. The second group is just adorable. I look forward to this class every week. They are an age that I just click with (secondes). I get them - they get me. And we have a lot of fun. Wednesday afternoon my friend Jenny came over to make her delicious pumpkin bread/cake in my oven and we spent a lovely afternoon hanging out.

Thursday I woke up and felt really awful - so I stayed home from work. I hate doing it, but with Christmas coming up and my parents visit (so excited!) I just can’t afford to get worse. So I stayed in bed all day, made chicken soup and went to the doctor (turns out I had a cold and mild bronchitis). Friday I felt worse - so I stayed home again. The medicine from the doctor really helped AND I got a box from my parents! I got a pair of my own shoes, as well as some Christmas socks and a favorite sweater I didn’t have room for! Along with all that I got some adorable ornaments, a book and DVD and so many American goodies! Ah, even in the land of amazing food - I still really miss Trader Joe’s. So it was so nice to see those labels and some of my favorite goodies - I do really love those peanut butter granola bars. Something that always amazes me, is how much you miss food that you rarely ate at home. My mom threw in some spice packets - seasoning for tacos, enchiladas, chili and SLOPPY JOES! I never thought I’d miss them - but oh my goodness! They are so good!

Saturday I stayed home again - I had made plans to go on an adventure for the day, but I just didn’t feel up to it. I did manage, however, to get a subscription at the library (which is awesome!) so I now have access to a ton of books and CDs and DVDs. And I did laundry - which may not seem like a major accomplishment, but it takes forever in France! Things just take so damn long to dry and I just don’t have a place in my apartment to line dry much. So, essentially, 3 loads took me 5 hours. Awesome.

Sunday I finally felt a lot better - I suppose that crazy French medicine finally started working (they gave me one thing, a nasal spray, that literally smells like a combination of glue and B.O., which I have to squirt up my nose 3 times a day). I cleaned my apartment and, as usual, had a really nice Sunday dinner with Caitlin and Seamus. We had enchiladas and a southwestern salad and then watched Life of Brian.

Today I’m feeling pretty normal, but I taking it easy. I’ll have my weekly meeting with one of my students - we do a language exchange (she talks in English and I talk in French) but that’s about it.

Sometime this week I’m going ice skating and having a little Christmas party and finishing my grad school apps. Should be another strangely busy and mostly unproductive week in France!