alors not much happened today but i just took a shower and i'm no longer sleepy and blogging usually makes me sleepy. so here i am.
thursday: i had 2 classes and they were both easy and sweet. my eleven year olds were learning to tell time and they were really good at it so i added daily activities: 'what time do you wake up?' and the like. they're like little excited sponges and they learn so quick i love teaching them. i just wonder if they retain the stuff after they run out of class. and i don't really have any way of knowing cuz i never repeat the same material. my second class were 13 year olds and they were less intelligent, as usual. half of them leave for amsterdam next week to practice english. all of the advanced english classes are going along with my favorite english teachers. but i'm not. and i'm kinda bummed about that. they're in for a 20 hour bus ride though so that makes it a little better. the spanish assistant gets to go on that trip to barcelona, but i don't get to go with the english kids. sigh.
these students were learning about describing holidays and so i had them write emails about visiting a specific monument or touristy spot in new york. one of them stood out far beyond the rest. she came up with 10 sentences in under 10 minutes and with barely any mistakes. so i made her write another 10. i told them all to make stuff up if they didn't know what to say and this prodigal child wrote about visiting the statue of liberty, going all the way to the top, jumping into the ocean and swimming with fish and whales and then going home to take a shower. and she ended it with "it was so funny!"
then i came home and it has been read, eat, be online, repeat. i'm reading austen's persuasion and so far it's pretty slow.
wednesday: no work. went to the market in the yucky rain and on the way saw that there was a level 4 flood warning. i didn't notice any water in the streets or anything and the rain was really only spitting, but it had been for the past 3 days straight. i talked to gladys later and she asked if i'd like to come on a walk with her and jean pierre to see the river. so i agreed and my goodness; it was a good 5 meters higher than usual. and flowing ridiculously fast. brown murky water. all the ducks had gotten out of the water and found higher ground. and the river was carrying all kinds of junk and a lot of sticks and wood and tree bits. we then went to valras to the beach and it was incredible. the beach was covered with debris from the river and there was sand everywhere. fortunately the rain stopped and the sea was calm so the river just ran right into it. this made the water level and the flood warning level go down.
i made a yummy roasted red pepper vermicelli risotto with carrots. but now i'm getting tired of what i know to cook. i need to start looking for new easy yummy recipes. any recommendations of good veggie food blogs would be appreciated.
i had a grapefruit today! but far too many dove dark chocolate with almond square thingies. why oh why did you send them to me mommy?
craving: zachary's pizza
currently listening to: nothing and the sound of me typing.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
the night i laid my eyes on you, felt everything around me move
gaah! there is too much to write! i wish my skills of summarizing were better. alas. i went away for the weekend to le pays basque and it was beautiful and fun and amazing and like a dream. but let's start with today.
tuesday: the weather has been so so gross here. wet and spit rain and crazy wind. non-stop. my walk to school was hilarious; i felt like i was fighting off the universe's urge to turn me and my umbrella into a modern mary poppins. and then school was freezing and smelled like wet dog/pre-teens.
my classes were hilarious. i spent 2 hours helping one of my teachers conduct an oral expression test on going shopping for clothes. i was the sales clerk and since it was a test they all looked like i had a gun to their heads as i asked them how i could help them. i sold them everything from suits to jeans, shirts, dresses and leather jackets. and i wonder how they go shopping cuz they didn't really know how sizes worked. i had students telling me their pant sizes were 38-43! and that their shirt sizes were the same. very odd. but maybe they all just picked numbers they could pronounce in english and didn't care much what they meant in the world of clothes sizes.
each student also said goodbye at the end of the dialogue and it got me thinking because i just stuck with 'thanks, have a nice day' or versions of that. and i noticed how in france au revoir is the norm. it's expected, both client and sales person say it at the end of any kind of transaction and often more than once with repeated merci as well. i rarely hear 'bye' or 'goodbye' in north america. or is it that i just don't remember hearing it?
and now i will cover what i can of the weekend before i get too sleepy:
friday: visited lourdes on our way to le pays basque. it's the off season so lourdes was pretty dead. most of the stores, museums and restaurants were closed. we stopped at one souvenir shop and got bottles in the shape of the virgin to fill with the holy water from la grotte de massabielle or the virgin's cave. lourdes' cave and it's spring is known for its miracle potential. the story goes that a young country girl named bernadette found this cave and the virgin appeared to her several times. and she told her priest but he didn't believe her and told her to 'have the nice lady tell you her name.' but apparently the virgin refused and these visions made bernadette do odd things like eat dirt. and out of the ground she dug up came forth a spring from the nearby river and when a lady with a paralyzed arm stuck it in the water, she was cured. so people got very excited and came to check it out. and then one day the virgin told bernadette that she was 'the immaculate conception' and bernadette memorized this so she could tell the priest who was shocked and believed her cuz bernadette was uneducated and couldn't have come up with those words in that order by herself. and then she became a saint and it became a huge thing and has been ever since. and there have been around 50 'official' miracles or guerisons since 1858.
then we had the most amazing pizza evar. mine was goat cheese, apple and pine nut with regular tomato sauce and mozzarella as well. so creative and delicious. it was huge too and i made myself eat it all cuz i was just that blown away by how good it tasted. and there was also a veggie one with pre roasted veggies on top- red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke, olives, etc. and they put salad greens on top of it, which i thought was a most delectable idea.
saturday: biarritz and saint jean de luz. beautiful. the day was sunny and almost hot. we walked around the coast and looked at the cliffs and all the happy surfers- there were a lot. biarritz is known for its waves and surf competitions. the basque houses were pretty cool too, white, red or green borders and woodwork- the colors of the basque flag. the towns were incredibly snooty with very high end stores and restaurants and chocolateries and boulangeries and such. but i really could not get over how gorgeous the ocean was. we tried a gateau basque with cherry filling and it was heaven. so rich- it was like a mix between a snickerdoodle and shortbread with fresh cherry filling. biarritz is also where the surf brands quicksilver and roxy are from. i didn't even know they were french! we checked out their stores but it was the exact same as in the states. a big thing seemed to be linen. there were so many stores selling basque patterned linen and cloth. from what i saw it's primarily stripes. various styles and colors and thicknesses- the most traditional of which were red or green on an off white background. and sometimes there were patterns of the basque cross or chilies. also espadrilles are basque. so i bought a pair!
sunday: we headed to bayonne and walked around looking at the ramparts and the tiny streets. every summer bayonne goes a litte crazy with this giant party called la fete de bayonne. the town hall gives the town permission to let loose and be lawless for a few days. it's pure chaos and madness; just drinking and music and crowds and food and people. and it tends to get a little dangerous as well. since it was way off season, nothing much was going on. but there were still more than a few bars with live music and confetti all over the streets. and people dressed up in costumes. it was almost like they were practicing for the summer- doing a little warm up before the real thing. we got take out italian pasta and sat on the steps of a cathedral and watched the silliness.
monday: we checked out espelette. it's a small town known for one thing: le piment d'espelette which is a chili pepper found only there. it's red, big, around the length of a green pepper and it's fairly thick. one again we were off season so there were no fresh ones to be found. only dried ones and powdered bottles of the stuff. i picked up a bottle or two, but i haven't tried any yet. also, the area we were in is known for foie gras. and other cured meats. so on our way back to beziers we stopped at a farm to get some. there was an angry goose to greet us followed by an adorable old lady. she invited us into her house to choose the various stuffs. i played with her dogs cuz foie gras is gross. she was quite scandalized by the fact that i'm vegetarian and actually tried to convince me that foie gras isn't meat! she was adorable so i assured her i would at least try some and that i would be back for more if i liked it. she does all the duck work herself which i thought was impressive cuz it's gotta be tough.
for those who don't know, foie gras means fat liver. and how they make it is by literally stuffing corn down ducks' throats until they can barely breathe. i don't know why. and then when they're satisfied, they kill them, take their liver and cook it. then they cool it and wrap it in the duck's fat and cool it some more and then stick it in jars. the duck fat preserves the liver and then when you're ready to eat it, you simply stick the jar back in the fridge for a few hours and let the fat solidify so that you can peel it right off the liver. the duck fat is thick and pastel yellow. i used to think that it was eaten too, but it's not.
in between these towns and things we visited others but i'm too tired to write about those as well. it was a very fun trip.
dang it, i'm still not done blogging about normandie!
craving: a strawberry banana smoothie
currently listening to: rapture- iio
tuesday: the weather has been so so gross here. wet and spit rain and crazy wind. non-stop. my walk to school was hilarious; i felt like i was fighting off the universe's urge to turn me and my umbrella into a modern mary poppins. and then school was freezing and smelled like wet dog/pre-teens.
my classes were hilarious. i spent 2 hours helping one of my teachers conduct an oral expression test on going shopping for clothes. i was the sales clerk and since it was a test they all looked like i had a gun to their heads as i asked them how i could help them. i sold them everything from suits to jeans, shirts, dresses and leather jackets. and i wonder how they go shopping cuz they didn't really know how sizes worked. i had students telling me their pant sizes were 38-43! and that their shirt sizes were the same. very odd. but maybe they all just picked numbers they could pronounce in english and didn't care much what they meant in the world of clothes sizes.
each student also said goodbye at the end of the dialogue and it got me thinking because i just stuck with 'thanks, have a nice day' or versions of that. and i noticed how in france au revoir is the norm. it's expected, both client and sales person say it at the end of any kind of transaction and often more than once with repeated merci as well. i rarely hear 'bye' or 'goodbye' in north america. or is it that i just don't remember hearing it?
and now i will cover what i can of the weekend before i get too sleepy:
friday: visited lourdes on our way to le pays basque. it's the off season so lourdes was pretty dead. most of the stores, museums and restaurants were closed. we stopped at one souvenir shop and got bottles in the shape of the virgin to fill with the holy water from la grotte de massabielle or the virgin's cave. lourdes' cave and it's spring is known for its miracle potential. the story goes that a young country girl named bernadette found this cave and the virgin appeared to her several times. and she told her priest but he didn't believe her and told her to 'have the nice lady tell you her name.' but apparently the virgin refused and these visions made bernadette do odd things like eat dirt. and out of the ground she dug up came forth a spring from the nearby river and when a lady with a paralyzed arm stuck it in the water, she was cured. so people got very excited and came to check it out. and then one day the virgin told bernadette that she was 'the immaculate conception' and bernadette memorized this so she could tell the priest who was shocked and believed her cuz bernadette was uneducated and couldn't have come up with those words in that order by herself. and then she became a saint and it became a huge thing and has been ever since. and there have been around 50 'official' miracles or guerisons since 1858.
then we had the most amazing pizza evar. mine was goat cheese, apple and pine nut with regular tomato sauce and mozzarella as well. so creative and delicious. it was huge too and i made myself eat it all cuz i was just that blown away by how good it tasted. and there was also a veggie one with pre roasted veggies on top- red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke, olives, etc. and they put salad greens on top of it, which i thought was a most delectable idea.
saturday: biarritz and saint jean de luz. beautiful. the day was sunny and almost hot. we walked around the coast and looked at the cliffs and all the happy surfers- there were a lot. biarritz is known for its waves and surf competitions. the basque houses were pretty cool too, white, red or green borders and woodwork- the colors of the basque flag. the towns were incredibly snooty with very high end stores and restaurants and chocolateries and boulangeries and such. but i really could not get over how gorgeous the ocean was. we tried a gateau basque with cherry filling and it was heaven. so rich- it was like a mix between a snickerdoodle and shortbread with fresh cherry filling. biarritz is also where the surf brands quicksilver and roxy are from. i didn't even know they were french! we checked out their stores but it was the exact same as in the states. a big thing seemed to be linen. there were so many stores selling basque patterned linen and cloth. from what i saw it's primarily stripes. various styles and colors and thicknesses- the most traditional of which were red or green on an off white background. and sometimes there were patterns of the basque cross or chilies. also espadrilles are basque. so i bought a pair!
sunday: we headed to bayonne and walked around looking at the ramparts and the tiny streets. every summer bayonne goes a litte crazy with this giant party called la fete de bayonne. the town hall gives the town permission to let loose and be lawless for a few days. it's pure chaos and madness; just drinking and music and crowds and food and people. and it tends to get a little dangerous as well. since it was way off season, nothing much was going on. but there were still more than a few bars with live music and confetti all over the streets. and people dressed up in costumes. it was almost like they were practicing for the summer- doing a little warm up before the real thing. we got take out italian pasta and sat on the steps of a cathedral and watched the silliness.
monday: we checked out espelette. it's a small town known for one thing: le piment d'espelette which is a chili pepper found only there. it's red, big, around the length of a green pepper and it's fairly thick. one again we were off season so there were no fresh ones to be found. only dried ones and powdered bottles of the stuff. i picked up a bottle or two, but i haven't tried any yet. also, the area we were in is known for foie gras. and other cured meats. so on our way back to beziers we stopped at a farm to get some. there was an angry goose to greet us followed by an adorable old lady. she invited us into her house to choose the various stuffs. i played with her dogs cuz foie gras is gross. she was quite scandalized by the fact that i'm vegetarian and actually tried to convince me that foie gras isn't meat! she was adorable so i assured her i would at least try some and that i would be back for more if i liked it. she does all the duck work herself which i thought was impressive cuz it's gotta be tough.
for those who don't know, foie gras means fat liver. and how they make it is by literally stuffing corn down ducks' throats until they can barely breathe. i don't know why. and then when they're satisfied, they kill them, take their liver and cook it. then they cool it and wrap it in the duck's fat and cool it some more and then stick it in jars. the duck fat preserves the liver and then when you're ready to eat it, you simply stick the jar back in the fridge for a few hours and let the fat solidify so that you can peel it right off the liver. the duck fat is thick and pastel yellow. i used to think that it was eaten too, but it's not.
in between these towns and things we visited others but i'm too tired to write about those as well. it was a very fun trip.
dang it, i'm still not done blogging about normandie!
craving: a strawberry banana smoothie
currently listening to: rapture- iio
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
baby i have no story to be told, but i've heard one of you and i'm gonna make your head burn
i am going to try and cover the highlights of normandie and nantes in this post. wish me luck.
i'll go backwards. today (wednesday) was simple. i got groceries, went downtown for a bit and walked around cuz it was a sunny day. had 2 very delicious and creative cookies for breakfast from a bakery in beziers. went to sephora and smelled nearly every single perfume and narrowed down the one i love: prada infusion de fleur d'oranger. leftover badly cooked maggi with onions for lunch with a yogurt. listened to last week's wait wait podcast while making sambar for dinner. sambar and rice ready and i'm no longer hungry.
i got home in the afternoon yesterday after a 7 hour roadtrip. i woke up at 530, got dressed, bid farewell to ange and walked in the dark to the nantes tram station. i was so worried about getting lost and not making it to the tram station on time that i did get lost and i missed my tram. fortunately the covoiturage guy, martin, was also running late. i was lucky though cuz he had a huge suv and i got to ride shotgun the whole way which means leg room! we picked up a guy on our way and another 2 in bordeaux and so we had a full car. martin was headed to perpignan to visit his girlfriend. he's a music store owner and guitar teacher. he played susheela raman's salt rain album. what are the odds i would ever hear her rendition of mamavatu in a complete stranger's car on my way to narbonne on a sunny day in france? narbonne-beziers train- 15 minutes. beziers-serignan bus- 25 minutes after a 45 minute wait. freezing home. turned on heaters and unpacked. maggi cuz i had no groceries. showered. dinner and bowling with friends. my scores: first game 65, second 49- and i won the 2nd! so yeah, i and the french can't bowl.
monday: ange had work so i watched the king's speech in centre ville and it was amazing. i really enjoyed it. i went for geoffrey rush but colin firth was incredible. wow wow wow. then i got my eyebrows done, hooray! met up with ange and we got some vin chaud and talked and talked. headed to benou's place after and hung out with him, cedric, some rosé, and far far too many cigarettes (one stereotype that is dead on about the french) for a few hours. home, reading and sleep.
sunday: ange and i stayed home and chilled. read and talked all day. it was so nice and i finished the book of lost things by john connolly and i really liked it. started on code zero by ken follett in french but i left it with ange when i left nantes.
saturday i don't remember. more hanging out with ange.
and now i think i'll flip and go chronologically.
monday the 28th of feb: after my previous post cedric and i went to les falaises the cliffs of fecamp. the day was gloomy and windy and the cliffs were absolutely freezing. there were also unbelievably beautiful. the wind was crazy strong and i could barely keep my eyes open. we stayed for 15 minutes cuz that's how cold it was. then we headed into fecamp to Palais Benedictine which is a castle built around a monastery where monks made a pretty potent liquor from 27 spices. a rich man decided that he was gonna continue making the liquor from the same recipe and he built the castle for his distillery. it now houses a pretty cool museum with a whole mess of old french stuff. and an art gallery- we didn't go. we checked out the distillery and it was murky and humid and smelled strongly of chemicals. we also tasted the benedictine and it was very very strong but with a yummy aftertaste of caramel. the stuff's crazy expensive so i didn't buy any as a souvenir.
and now i am vair vair sleepy so i'm gonna put the sambar away for tomorrow (i haven't even tasted it!) and sleeep. and so this is to be continued!
craving: a long deep back and neck massage
currently listening to: right as rain- adele
i'll go backwards. today (wednesday) was simple. i got groceries, went downtown for a bit and walked around cuz it was a sunny day. had 2 very delicious and creative cookies for breakfast from a bakery in beziers. went to sephora and smelled nearly every single perfume and narrowed down the one i love: prada infusion de fleur d'oranger. leftover badly cooked maggi with onions for lunch with a yogurt. listened to last week's wait wait podcast while making sambar for dinner. sambar and rice ready and i'm no longer hungry.
i got home in the afternoon yesterday after a 7 hour roadtrip. i woke up at 530, got dressed, bid farewell to ange and walked in the dark to the nantes tram station. i was so worried about getting lost and not making it to the tram station on time that i did get lost and i missed my tram. fortunately the covoiturage guy, martin, was also running late. i was lucky though cuz he had a huge suv and i got to ride shotgun the whole way which means leg room! we picked up a guy on our way and another 2 in bordeaux and so we had a full car. martin was headed to perpignan to visit his girlfriend. he's a music store owner and guitar teacher. he played susheela raman's salt rain album. what are the odds i would ever hear her rendition of mamavatu in a complete stranger's car on my way to narbonne on a sunny day in france? narbonne-beziers train- 15 minutes. beziers-serignan bus- 25 minutes after a 45 minute wait. freezing home. turned on heaters and unpacked. maggi cuz i had no groceries. showered. dinner and bowling with friends. my scores: first game 65, second 49- and i won the 2nd! so yeah, i and the french can't bowl.
monday: ange had work so i watched the king's speech in centre ville and it was amazing. i really enjoyed it. i went for geoffrey rush but colin firth was incredible. wow wow wow. then i got my eyebrows done, hooray! met up with ange and we got some vin chaud and talked and talked. headed to benou's place after and hung out with him, cedric, some rosé, and far far too many cigarettes (one stereotype that is dead on about the french) for a few hours. home, reading and sleep.
sunday: ange and i stayed home and chilled. read and talked all day. it was so nice and i finished the book of lost things by john connolly and i really liked it. started on code zero by ken follett in french but i left it with ange when i left nantes.
saturday i don't remember. more hanging out with ange.
and now i think i'll flip and go chronologically.
monday the 28th of feb: after my previous post cedric and i went to les falaises the cliffs of fecamp. the day was gloomy and windy and the cliffs were absolutely freezing. there were also unbelievably beautiful. the wind was crazy strong and i could barely keep my eyes open. we stayed for 15 minutes cuz that's how cold it was. then we headed into fecamp to Palais Benedictine which is a castle built around a monastery where monks made a pretty potent liquor from 27 spices. a rich man decided that he was gonna continue making the liquor from the same recipe and he built the castle for his distillery. it now houses a pretty cool museum with a whole mess of old french stuff. and an art gallery- we didn't go. we checked out the distillery and it was murky and humid and smelled strongly of chemicals. we also tasted the benedictine and it was very very strong but with a yummy aftertaste of caramel. the stuff's crazy expensive so i didn't buy any as a souvenir.
and now i am vair vair sleepy so i'm gonna put the sambar away for tomorrow (i haven't even tasted it!) and sleeep. and so this is to be continued!
craving: a long deep back and neck massage
currently listening to: right as rain- adele
Monday, February 28, 2011
should i give up or should i just keep chasing pavements?
grrrr... my last post was accidentally deleted and i hate hate hate hate when that happens.
alors les vacances d'hiver: french people don't like working more than 8 weeks at a time so these holidays are winter holidays, 2 months after xmas holidays.
i am in fécamp with cedric at his parents' place in haute normandie. it's chilly and gloomy but very beautiful. reminds me of both vancouver and wales. there are actual hills around here, something that the southern béziers area i'm in doesn't seem to have. cedric's house has an amazing view of the entire town cuz they're up on a hill.
we got here yesterday morning by covoiturage and it took 4 hours to get from nantes to rouen and cedric's parents ouanassa and yves picked us up and drove us here to fécamp. the drive was a lot of nothing and french countryside. the cows here are usually an off-white color but the weird thing is how unhealthy they all look. i don't know if it's the french variety of cow or something, but they all look ill and weak. there is a lot of mistletoe on all the bare trees and i think mistletoe is hilarious. just shows up in little balls and hangs out for the winter, then the trees kick it out and grow back their leaves.
during the drive from rouen to fécamp cedric's parents bought us each a little apple tart that is a typical normand dessert. it's delicious; a mix of apple pie and cake, with an almond thing on top.
when we got home i met their dog soan who is apparently very mean to strangers but she seems sweet enough to me. and i got to cooking some daal for dinner. cedric cut carrots and had coffee and he'd like everyone to know so. i made the daal as spicy as i would for me and cedric's parents loved it so i was happy. cedric had a hard time though cuz he's lost all his karam tolerance, poor thing.
then we hung out and played a game called jungle speed which was funny and involved grabbing a totem after matching shapes and colors.
and now we're heading out to visit fécamp and around and try and find a château for me!
craving: spicy hot apple cider
currently listening to: best for last- adele
Monday, February 14, 2011
say it loud and it's like music playing, say it soft and it's almost like praying
huzzah! i had a fun weekend!
friday was a get together at jennifer's place (assistant from washington) and we ate and drank and played charades/pictionary/taboo in french. it was a lot of fun and we giggled and yelled to our heart's content. and i had a hard time miming 'modem.'
saturday was a party at jaime's place and that was also fun. mariana and i went for sushi before and it was pretty decent, but the place was owned by japanese people so i did actually expect more. there was a woman singing outside this one restaurant and her voice was over loudspeakers on the rooftop of the polygone, which is where all the restaurants are. and she was kind of a disaster. i thought it was karaoke and so we walked around looking for it and then we saw her. and then we quickly walked away.
sunday i didn't do much, read and worked and slept a lot.
the pav bhaji i made a while ago has lasted this whole week! so now i'm kinda tired of it. and i will go and cook now cuz i need something for lunch tomorrow.
and that's all i have to say. not a very interesting post.
craving: strawberries and chocolate
currently listening to: give me one reason- tracy chapman
friday was a get together at jennifer's place (assistant from washington) and we ate and drank and played charades/pictionary/taboo in french. it was a lot of fun and we giggled and yelled to our heart's content. and i had a hard time miming 'modem.'
saturday was a party at jaime's place and that was also fun. mariana and i went for sushi before and it was pretty decent, but the place was owned by japanese people so i did actually expect more. there was a woman singing outside this one restaurant and her voice was over loudspeakers on the rooftop of the polygone, which is where all the restaurants are. and she was kind of a disaster. i thought it was karaoke and so we walked around looking for it and then we saw her. and then we quickly walked away.
sunday i didn't do much, read and worked and slept a lot.
the pav bhaji i made a while ago has lasted this whole week! so now i'm kinda tired of it. and i will go and cook now cuz i need something for lunch tomorrow.
and that's all i have to say. not a very interesting post.
craving: strawberries and chocolate
currently listening to: give me one reason- tracy chapman
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
you're a song written by the hands of god, don't get me wrong, but this might sound to you a bit odd
alora. my teacher canceled classes today so i slept in. and i did nothing of any use to anyone. went to the market in the morning and bought half a kg of strawberries (already finished em) and veggies for pav bhaji. came home and had a breakfast of chips and salsa and cheerios and milk, with sliced banana. and then i took a nap. it was a fitful bit of sleep cuz i had a scary dream, got very cold and then very hot.
then i got ready for my physio session and went. i am so much better now, there is barely any pain left and i'm up to 20 minutes of yoga a day. romain massaged me and we chatted as usual. he told me that this week they have a new trainee (sidenote: last week they had 2 trainees from the school i teach at, and both just happened to be students of mine. it was a bit awkward cuz now both students have seen me in my bra and each of them have refastened my bra for me when i'm all done and before i get off the table. super.) from the school and that she isn't working out so great. i immediately started thinking about who it could be haha. then he put the electrodes on my back, got me a hot pack, and left without turning the electrode thingies on.
so there i was face down on the table with my bra unhooked, electrodes on my back and a hot pack on top of them, shouting various things to get someone to come into the room. i did this for about 5 minutes and nobody came and i felt really silly cuz romain would only be back at the end of my 15 minutes. so i hooked my bra, removed the hot pack, picked up the electrode controller, and put my coat on hospital gown style and went out into the hallway. and for a place that's usually empty, there were suddenly lots of people around. fortunately romain saw me and came quickly to find out what was going on, which is good cuz i couldn't tell which one was him cuz i wasn't wearing my glasses. he apologized and got the electrodes pulsing and left. and linda came by 15 minutes to remove them and made fun of 'the little walk i took earlier.' and i saw the new trainee- one of my least favorite students- chilling in the waiting area, tapping a pack of cigarettes against her lap (what? thees ees la france after all), waiting to leave for the day. she did say hi to me though.
i came home and made another zucchini ricotta fritter cuz i was hungry and i have 4 zucchini's worth of batter. gladys popped round to have me change jean pierre's homepage to his email account. then i chilled and did useless things online until i was ready to make the pav bhaji.
it didn't take long and i did make a big mess but it got done and it's very yummy. though it tastes like something's missing. i think i should have used more cauliflower. or maybe let the tomatoes cook longer. or something. and gladys popped by again cuz her mouse stopped working but by the time i got upstairs to take a look, it was working and she felt sheepish. she gave me some homemade chocolate cake though! and it was crazy moist. and heavenly. and dense. and everything a chocolate cake should be and more. so i must have her recipe.
i did some cleaning. ate some pav bhaji with a tortilla and then with some tortilla chips (just didn't feel like having it with bread, gosh). and then i took a shower. and tweezed my eyebrows which i both hate doing and really suck at.
and here i am waiting for my hair to dry. i have no morning classes tomorrow so i can sleep in again!
craving: mommy's hot apple cider
currently listening to: insatiable- savage garden
then i got ready for my physio session and went. i am so much better now, there is barely any pain left and i'm up to 20 minutes of yoga a day. romain massaged me and we chatted as usual. he told me that this week they have a new trainee (sidenote: last week they had 2 trainees from the school i teach at, and both just happened to be students of mine. it was a bit awkward cuz now both students have seen me in my bra and each of them have refastened my bra for me when i'm all done and before i get off the table. super.) from the school and that she isn't working out so great. i immediately started thinking about who it could be haha. then he put the electrodes on my back, got me a hot pack, and left without turning the electrode thingies on.
so there i was face down on the table with my bra unhooked, electrodes on my back and a hot pack on top of them, shouting various things to get someone to come into the room. i did this for about 5 minutes and nobody came and i felt really silly cuz romain would only be back at the end of my 15 minutes. so i hooked my bra, removed the hot pack, picked up the electrode controller, and put my coat on hospital gown style and went out into the hallway. and for a place that's usually empty, there were suddenly lots of people around. fortunately romain saw me and came quickly to find out what was going on, which is good cuz i couldn't tell which one was him cuz i wasn't wearing my glasses. he apologized and got the electrodes pulsing and left. and linda came by 15 minutes to remove them and made fun of 'the little walk i took earlier.' and i saw the new trainee- one of my least favorite students- chilling in the waiting area, tapping a pack of cigarettes against her lap (what? thees ees la france after all), waiting to leave for the day. she did say hi to me though.
i came home and made another zucchini ricotta fritter cuz i was hungry and i have 4 zucchini's worth of batter. gladys popped round to have me change jean pierre's homepage to his email account. then i chilled and did useless things online until i was ready to make the pav bhaji.
it didn't take long and i did make a big mess but it got done and it's very yummy. though it tastes like something's missing. i think i should have used more cauliflower. or maybe let the tomatoes cook longer. or something. and gladys popped by again cuz her mouse stopped working but by the time i got upstairs to take a look, it was working and she felt sheepish. she gave me some homemade chocolate cake though! and it was crazy moist. and heavenly. and dense. and everything a chocolate cake should be and more. so i must have her recipe.
i did some cleaning. ate some pav bhaji with a tortilla and then with some tortilla chips (just didn't feel like having it with bread, gosh). and then i took a shower. and tweezed my eyebrows which i both hate doing and really suck at.
and here i am waiting for my hair to dry. i have no morning classes tomorrow so i can sleep in again!
craving: mommy's hot apple cider
currently listening to: insatiable- savage garden
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
'scuse me, i'm sorry, i'm really such a lady
thundercats ho it's been a while. i told my madre that it was cuz i don't do much and so a lot of what i write would just be me trying to find new ways to write the same, boring stuff, and she just said, "so? do it anyway" and so i shall, so i shall!
so today, tuesday was a fairly uneventful day, like most of my days here. i went to work and my first class was 11 year olds learning directions and how to describe where things are. so i drew a house, a tree and some flowers on the board and had them come up and draw an object anywhere they wanted and we then described where it was in relation to my wobbly house and droopy flowers and broccoli tree. they did pretty well and i was happy with their sentences: "the fat girl is next to the flowers.;" "the pig is behind the window;" "the roast chicken is on the house." then i came home for a nap and food.
i recently rediscovered the joys of fried egg on toast. white bread cuz i live on the edge like that. but it is so yummmy. and i found cheerios at the grocery store and indulged. so my crappy carb intake will be extra high this next few weeks. hoooray! i had 2 bananas to try and compensate or make myself feel better or something (yes i know life doesn't work like that, sheesh).
after lunch i had a group of 3 12 year old students and we worked on clothing. there were only 3 because for weeks their class had terrorized me, not paid attention, yelled, poked, punched and whined and so i finally told the teacher that it was a royal waste of time. she agreed to send me 5 kids at a time and that way they'd have to shut up and listen. we covered clothing vocab with pictures and then flipped through people magazine and i had them describe what demi and ashton and snooki were wearing. they told me they enjoyed being with me cuz i didn't yell. i told them that it wasn't my job and then socratic-ly got them to realize that it was their fault their teacher yells in the first place. (pats self on back) not that they'll listen anyway.
after that was another lame group that semi-participated. i showed them pics in the magazine and had them tell me what the people were doing in the pictures. they had very little imagination though which was sad. and they got very excited at a picture of orlando bloom which makes no sense cuz they're 12! they also think tracy jordan is a loser so clearly they don't know what they're talking about.
my last class was a rubbish group of 13 year olds and they just didn't care to learn about clothing or fashion or anything in english so i killed time by getting them to try and decipher the various ads in that people mag i had. and i noticed a strange trend: people magazine advertises everything a person needs to be clean: toothpaste, mouth wash, electric toothbrush, body wash and body lotion. i don't really know what this means. the other ads were (cuz i know you're just going to ask me later): hershey's chocolate, a diamond watch, armani cologne, estee lauder perfume, american express, hostess cupcakes, got milk (so milk?), goldfish crackers, pepperidge farm cookies, starbucks coffee, pringles and i forget the rest.
then i walked home, dropped my stuff off and went to the grocery store to get some ricotta. and i came home and made these zucchini ricotta fritters that are amazing. so amazing that within 5 minutes of me starting to cook them, my landlady came over to ask what i was cooking cuz she could smell them all the way in her house! i was slightly bummed though cuz i couldn't figure out how to get them the right consistency, they're slightly soft and maybe undercooked even though i left them in the pan for over 3 times the amount of time the recipe called for. still yummay so whatev. so my first time cooking with ricotta= success.
and now i'm sleepy so...
sidenote: today i learned that someone has created a twitter page for helen keller and every single tweet is something like "khusaaaaarrh" or some other sound a deaf person who has never heard language would make, and i am really disturbed by this.
craving: blood orange frozen yogurt from pinkberry
currently listening to: bedrock- young money
so today, tuesday was a fairly uneventful day, like most of my days here. i went to work and my first class was 11 year olds learning directions and how to describe where things are. so i drew a house, a tree and some flowers on the board and had them come up and draw an object anywhere they wanted and we then described where it was in relation to my wobbly house and droopy flowers and broccoli tree. they did pretty well and i was happy with their sentences: "the fat girl is next to the flowers.;" "the pig is behind the window;" "the roast chicken is on the house." then i came home for a nap and food.
i recently rediscovered the joys of fried egg on toast. white bread cuz i live on the edge like that. but it is so yummmy. and i found cheerios at the grocery store and indulged. so my crappy carb intake will be extra high this next few weeks. hoooray! i had 2 bananas to try and compensate or make myself feel better or something (yes i know life doesn't work like that, sheesh).
after lunch i had a group of 3 12 year old students and we worked on clothing. there were only 3 because for weeks their class had terrorized me, not paid attention, yelled, poked, punched and whined and so i finally told the teacher that it was a royal waste of time. she agreed to send me 5 kids at a time and that way they'd have to shut up and listen. we covered clothing vocab with pictures and then flipped through people magazine and i had them describe what demi and ashton and snooki were wearing. they told me they enjoyed being with me cuz i didn't yell. i told them that it wasn't my job and then socratic-ly got them to realize that it was their fault their teacher yells in the first place. (pats self on back) not that they'll listen anyway.
after that was another lame group that semi-participated. i showed them pics in the magazine and had them tell me what the people were doing in the pictures. they had very little imagination though which was sad. and they got very excited at a picture of orlando bloom which makes no sense cuz they're 12! they also think tracy jordan is a loser so clearly they don't know what they're talking about.
my last class was a rubbish group of 13 year olds and they just didn't care to learn about clothing or fashion or anything in english so i killed time by getting them to try and decipher the various ads in that people mag i had. and i noticed a strange trend: people magazine advertises everything a person needs to be clean: toothpaste, mouth wash, electric toothbrush, body wash and body lotion. i don't really know what this means. the other ads were (cuz i know you're just going to ask me later): hershey's chocolate, a diamond watch, armani cologne, estee lauder perfume, american express, hostess cupcakes, got milk (so milk?), goldfish crackers, pepperidge farm cookies, starbucks coffee, pringles and i forget the rest.
then i walked home, dropped my stuff off and went to the grocery store to get some ricotta. and i came home and made these zucchini ricotta fritters that are amazing. so amazing that within 5 minutes of me starting to cook them, my landlady came over to ask what i was cooking cuz she could smell them all the way in her house! i was slightly bummed though cuz i couldn't figure out how to get them the right consistency, they're slightly soft and maybe undercooked even though i left them in the pan for over 3 times the amount of time the recipe called for. still yummay so whatev. so my first time cooking with ricotta= success.
and now i'm sleepy so...
sidenote: today i learned that someone has created a twitter page for helen keller and every single tweet is something like "khusaaaaarrh" or some other sound a deaf person who has never heard language would make, and i am really disturbed by this.
craving: blood orange frozen yogurt from pinkberry
currently listening to: bedrock- young money
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