Sean's in Trouble!

Classes are over; tomorrow is my last day of teaching. I'm afraid I'm going to forget to go since I haven't been to Vire in what, two weeks? I have no idea. Anyway, I'm very sad that tomorrow is my last day to see those adorable kids! I might take some pictures to put up here.

Sean... my neighbor... oh Sean. We always tell him that he's never quite left middle school behind. He likes to stand at his window and throw things (usually pickles or bad chocolate) at people walking down below. Since I live next door, I have had tea sloshed on my window, shaving cream spread all over my door and window, and pickles and chocolate thrown onto my window sill or into my window, if it's open! Well, he's really crossed the line now. He threw a chocolate onto my window sill and I didn't see it. It's apparently been there for a long time, because a bunch of ants made it their home. This problem came to my attention yesterday when I woke up to my desk, which is right next to my bed, covered in ants. I managed to get rid of most of them during the course of yesterday, but I still see one from time to time!

So, how do I get him back? What on earth beats infesting someone's bedroom with ants??? I need something good, people!

My new little friend

On Monday Heidi, Zak, and I went to Bayeux. Part of that time was spent lounging in a little park. I spread my coat out on the ground, laid on my stomach, and took a nap. When I woke up, I saw in front of my eyes a little boy in the same position I was in, staring at me. We just stared at each other for a minute. He stood up, began to talk to me about the little flowers he was picking, and kept walking around, toward me, then away, toward me, then away. Finally, he came back and I just had a little conversation in French with him. He came closer, picked some of the daisies and the bright yellow flowers that were everywhere on the ground, gave them to me, then after a few minutes ran away to play with someone else. Heidi and Zak captured the moment I woke up and the moment he gave me flowers on camera.

Isn't he just precious? I believe his name is Anzou. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

I learned how to make crepes!

Last Sunday my friend Mathilde picked me up from my dorm and we drove to her house in Courseulles-sur-mer, which is a cute little town by the sea. It was a great day. It's fun to ride in a car, for one thing! I never thought that I'd miss that because I'm not a huge fan of driving most of the time.

We went to the beach where we saw some WWII memorial trucs* (like on almost all of the beaches around here, as one would expect). We walked around her village for a bit and then schlumped on her couch at home, using REAL internet and swapping music. Then, we made good old American chocolate chip cookies, for which Mathilde chopped up some nice dark chocolate. The first batch was pretty good, but I think I added something to the second that made them turn out extremely flat and weird.

For dinner, Mathilde taught me how to make crepes. They were very easy to make, and of course having a good teacher helped! I put ham and Camembert in mine for dinner, and then had a chocolate crepe for dessert. Her father treats himself to raw oysters with a dressing of shallots and red wine vinegar every Sunday, and he let me try a couple of those. This is me schlurping one up!

It was so much fun. Mathilde and her family are very sweet, and it's always nice to get away from the old Tilleuls dorm room!



*French for "thingamajig."

Curiosity?

In the United States, if one wants to buy fruits or vegetables, one goes into Kroger and buys the exact quantity of whatever produce they want, takes it to the cashier or to the self-checkout computer, and leaves. If someone buys one apple or a bushel, no one usually says anything, although if one buys one lettuce leaf he might get weird looks or a comment. The point being is that no one is really involved in your grocery buying process. No one criticizes it or is concerned with it except for you and whomever you are with.

Not so in France! Here, the seller and the customers in the store are likely to be very curious about what you are buying, especially if they don't think that what you are buying is what they think you should be buying. The fruit seller will often ask me what I am going to use the produce for, which is nice, because then he picks out whatever is best for my purposes. I appreciate that very much. He or she (they are husband and wife) always picks the best and the ripest fruit, whereas at Kroger I am all alone in this endeavor.

But sometimes, the questioning gets a little nosy and sometimes frustrating, simply because I do not have the vocabulary to deal with it, and I am wondering if they are asking me so many questions because I have done something offensive! For example, the other day, I went to buy some spinach and tomatoes to put over a pasta dish. I knew exactly how much of everything I wanted. I asked the fruit seller for just a little bit of spinach, so she pulled out an amount and I said that it was fine. Apparently, she thought I needed more, because she said, "You know that it shrinks when you cook it, right?" And I said, yes, of course. "So don't you want more?" I said no, that was enough.

Then the other customers started getting involved. There was one lady in particular who began rapidly explaining what happens to spinach when it is cooked (and they didn't even know I wanted to cook it!). She waved her hands and made noises, trying to get her point across. I told them that I know, but that it was for a recipe, and that I don't have a refrigerator in which to preserve spinach so I just have to buy it in small quantities! They replied that it didn't matter, spinach shrinks when it is cooked, so I should buy more.

Finally I made it to the cash register with exactly the amount of spinach that I wanted, two tomatoes, and a red pepper. And ran as quickly as I could from that place!

We come across this sort of thing a lot. I think sometimes people think that because we're Americans, we don't know what we're doing. Okay, to be fair, that is probably true half the time. But when it comes to things that we have in America, like fruits and vegetables, I'm pretty confident! I guess in America there are so many people who do things in so many bizarre ways that we don't even think to ask why someone would want a small quantity of spinach, or why Kylie leaves her face makeup on when going tanning, or why we don't change out of hoodies and t-shirts to go shopping. I guess for people who have been to Waffle House or Wal-Mart past a certain time of day, nothing is going to seem odd.

I've never been to New York City, but I read an article once that said that the people are rude to others there because they are treating them like family. Family members don't let family members cut in line or take too long in the bathroom, they are curious about what others in their family are doing, etc. I think it might be the same way in France. They are just more involved in the lives of other people. Sometimes that can be frustrating because it's not something I have ever experienced or that I understand very well, but in other ways I really like it. It makes you feel more involved in the community and that you're not just a little phantom that floats into the grocery store and floats out unnoticed. Sometimes it is a little intimidating to think about going shopping for anything because I never know what sort of criticism I'll face, but when in France, one's gotta suck it up!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! There's so much that I'm thankful for today. Eat lots of pumpkin pie for me!