Who needs Mase when you can carry around a stale baguette?

So another week gone by. I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away. I leave on Saturday to spend 10 days with a family friend in Brest. My Dad says I'm in for excellent food and some of the best wine to be had in France. Sign me up! Christine (the friend I'll be staying with) sent me an email to see if I like oysters and lobster (mmmm my favorites!).

Taboo was a complete success; 2 kids even stayed after class to tell me how much fun they had. They had me cracking up, but overall, I was impressed with how well they did. I did 2 sides on each card (one easy and one a little more difficult, for example, the word GENEROUS). They constantly surprise me with their ability. Unfortunately, I think I will have all new kids after the vacation, and I will miss these guys.

I sat in on my first Italian class last Thursday, but I think I need to try and go to the middle school b/c the easiest level at the highschool is 3rd year, obviously too advanced for me who doesn't know a thing. The teacher, Anne, is really nice and encouraging, and I think she gets a kick out of me wanting to do this, so I feel more than comfortable continuing on.

Jenny, Jesse and I took a day trip to Angers last Wed. and had a blast! Jess studied there for a semester in 2004, so we got to see her school, eat lunch with friends, have coffee with 2 of her old profs, and walk around the city. It was very bright, clean and cheery, quite the contrast to dreary Nantes. I'm glad we went and hope to do more day trips after the break.

Guess that's it for now. I'm kind of all over the place and not too motivated here at the moment. Gotta get ready to go to a tea this afternoon with some teachers from school. Happy Holidays!

Love, Elizabeth

Christmas Carols, The Circus, Beach, and Fajita Night

Bonjour! So I've been a busy girl this past week, and after a much needed long sleep, I finally feel a little bit better. I think I was up past 4 AM for 3-4 nights in a row! Came to school again for my 11:00 class..... and nothing. So here I am.

Classes continue to go well, and I've made special Taboo cards for the kids this week so look forward to seeing how that goes. We tested some of them out on French friends at the foyer, so I have a pretty good feeling the game will be fun. All these kids are so competative and had specifically asked to do a game with teams. I only have 2 more weeks with these groups since the other assistant left, I will have all new classes after the winter break.

Last Tues. we went to a church to see a Christmas concert. It was.... interesting, but one of the women was just wonderful. It was nice to go out, see all the lights at night and appreciate the fact that the bulidings here are amazing. At one point some drunk homeless man stumbled in rambling on about his half eaten sandwich... um ok.

On Thursday we went to see a circus called Cabalout. They had set up a tent right along the Loire, and it was very intimate. This was quite the experience, lemme tell you. I don't really know how else to describe it other than saying it is exactly what you'd expect out of a French circus: randomness, tricks with wine bottles, an extreme artistic point of view, and weird music. I think most people got it, but I just didn't get into it. There was a great juggling act, though. Louise just kept saying, "I don't get it". And I said "Don't hold your breath; I don't think we're supposed to".

Friday night we went to one of the coolest bars I've ever been to. It was just Jesse, Lou and Mathieu and then his friend Benjamin met up with us. It's called La Maison (The House) and is literally a house turned into a bar! It was so cool and all retroed out complete with 60s kitchen devises (stove, refrigerator, toaster, etc...). There's a living room, bathroom, and real bar area too. Very fun! You could order drinks like Abba and Ausitn Powers. We sat a the orange and white kitchen table. It's so nice to be able to talk to people who will help you with your French, and that's always how it is when we're with Mathieu. Definately had a good time.

Saturday we finally made our way to the beach, thanks to Mathieu's car! It was about an hour drive and a little cold, but we had fun, and it was sooooooooo nice to be by the beach. Stayed in that night but still managed to get to bed after 4... again. Yesterday I was just exhausted but we still cooked a fajita dinner for 15 people.

I have my infamous appointment at the prefecture on Wed. so won't have to do classes; Jesse has hers at the same time, and we're going to take advantage of the time off together and do a day trip to Angers where she studied in 2004. I've got nothin else to report here. Over and out. Bisous, Eli

Franglais Dictionary and Maybe Some Wee Irish Expressions

Ok, this may not be funny to most people, but we almost wet ourselves laughing at these franglais expressions. Thought I should start keeping track of them as our wee list grows.

Peut-etreley
English: Possibly
Français: Peut-etre

Me aussi
English: Me too
Français: Moi aussi

It marches
English: That works or, ok
Français: ça marche

I oublied
English: I forgot
Français: J'ai oublié

I am perduded
English: I am lost
Français: Je suis perdue

I am tout compris
English: I understand completly
Français: J'ai tout compris

What's the craic?! or Quelle est le craic?!
English (Irish): What's going on?/ What's up?/ How are you?/ etc.... you can also say "The craic is here" meaning this is the place to be; the party is here!
Français:

I'm just blagging
English: I'm only kidding/joking
Français: Je rigole

Jamaismind
English: Nevermind
Français:ça n'a pas d'importance

A French Thanksgiving

So I obviously got some pictures posted from my trip to London, but for some reason blogger will only let me put up so many at a time, and then it stops posting them. So... I will try to post the rest soon as well as some from this weekend.

On Thursday, the foyer did an honary Thanksgiving dinner for us. It was really cute b/c they lined all the tables up in one row, had candles, festive decorations, wine, cider etc... It was really a nice gesture, and I think everyone had a good time. I only had mashed potatoes, but whatever. They did a "pumpkin tarte" which was a custard tarte with slices of fresh pumpkin on top... couldn't help but laugh at that one. The best part was it was a really nice way for us to open up, have ppl approach us a little more freely, and get to know some of the ppl we live with. Jesse, Louise and I ended up going out afterwards to hang out with some of them.

Friday was tough since I had been out so late, but the good thing is, by Friday, I have the lesson mastered since I've had all week to get it down. Plus we were just doing the alibi game, which didn't require much effort on my part. It was Sandra's 21st birthday celebration, and we'd been invited to pre-party with all of them downstairs and then head to a dance club. I can't express how nice it is not to feel this ackwardness around all of the frenchies, and I imagine it's the same for them. I actually got to practice a little Spanish that night b/c Atis (a Colombian girl who used to live in the foyer) was out with us, and then I met a Portuguese guy who also spoke Spanish. I was surprised that I wasn't as horrible as I thought I'd be.

One good thing about being an American in France is when you get approached by a guy you have no interest in talking to or dancing with, you can just say "uhhh.... je ne comprehend pas le français" (I don't understand French) and just walk off. That line proved quite usefull. When asked for your number... "sorry I don't know it by heart". Basically when in doubt, plead stupidity. Friday night was the first time I enjoyed myself at a club here, and I think it was partly due to the fact that our group of about 20 ppl took over a good area of the club and b/c I liked about 60 percent of the music the DJ played. The staff was really nice, and it was actually possible (gasp!) to walk up to the bar and get some water.

I met a really nice guy through one of the boys in the foyer who was a FANTASTIC dancer (he could do every style; even salsa, and there's a seperate salsa room attached to the club), so we ended up dancing past 3AM. It's such a difference to be "in" with someone French rather than feeling like a group of outsiders. And since I love to dance (and it's sometimes hard to find a good match), I had a blast. We all ended up going back to the foyer and stayed up farting around until 8AM! I'm slowly adjusting to European nightlife.

Last night, after spending an entire weekend with the guys in the foyer, was the first time that I had French thoughts, phrases, new vocabulary etc.... running through my head as I dozed off. It was a great feeling, b/c for the first time, I felt like my French has started to take a turn. This is how it was for me in Costa Rica with Alex and Christain constatnly helping and correcting me. Hopefully, it'll be all up hill from now on.

I've got some paperwork for the foyer and my checking account to figure out, so have to run and try and get that taken care of before coming back for the rest of my classes. Bisous, Elizabeth

Pictures from London Nov. 24-26

Tony Blair's place, 9 Downing St./ Bless these arrow signs, without them we for sure would have been lost the entire weekend/ Big Ben/ Inside of Westminster Cathedral/ Guard on horse/ Harrods/ Kensington Palace/ (London) Tower Bridge