Friday, October 14, 2011

Friday 10/14: A Walk in the Woods

I woke up this morning feeling a lot better than yesterday. When I headed downstairs for breakfast, I found a note from Catherine asking if I could go to the farmers’ market to pick up some fruits and veggies. After I finished eating, I walked over (it’s only 5 minutes away at the most) and managed to find everything she’d requested. I enjoy walking through the market—today I discovered a stand that sells different sorts of sewing supplies…good to know!

When I got home, I put away my purchases and headed off on my bike for l’École de la Lande (the second elementary school where I will teach). The director had told me I could pick up more materials this week, so I wanted to arrive during lunchtime so that he would be available. I had a bit of trouble finding the school (it’s about 2 miles away) because the little map I’d drawn from googlemaps wasn’t exactly clear. Eventually I arrived and Franck gave me the packet and made some copies for me to take. He’s such a genuinely nice and smiley guy.

On my way home, the sun finally broke through the dense fog and I stopped to take some pictures of the church. It’s not a cathedral or anything, but it’s nice.

Photo: L'Église de Tyrosse

I waited to eat lunch with Catherine (I had white beans and fresh tomatoes! With some bread and cheese, of course! And grapes for dessert.) and we watched a health show on TV while we ate. It’s so different for me to watch so much TV here! However, there are rarely commercials and we watch more intellectual shows (or the news), so I don’t feel so bad about it. Today they were discussing eggs and their health benefits. Apparently the country that consumes the most eggs annually is…….. Mexico! Who would have guessed?!

After lunch I decided to take Dunja on a walk because it was so sunny and warm. I wanted to make sure I got out and didn’t just sit in my room and get depressed again. We walked by the school (so I could get a picture!) and then took our usual route through the woods. They are so beautiful—the pictures don’t do them justice.

Photo: The front of l'École des Arènes

During our walk, I came across an elderly couple sitting on a bench resting. We struck up a conversation and ended up talking for about 20 minutes. The man was more talkative than the woman and he told me I should work hard so I could have a nice retirement like him and his wife.

Photo: The path leading into the woods...

He also told me about a friend’s grandchild who was 23 and had recently gotten sick and ended up in the hospital. His girlfriend dumped him when she found out he was really sick, and now he’s depressed. I was informed that I should never do something like that. The man then asked if I’d ever had any tragic experiences with love… can’t say that I have. He said it’ll happen one day—his wife scolded him for saying so. They were an adorable couple and they wished me luck in France and in my future. We continued on our ways.




Photo: Deep in the woods







Photo: Dunja and the mysterious monkey bars in the middle of the woods...


Tonight I helped Catherine make pudding for dessert (it was actually vanilla pudding with whipped cream mixed in) and she made rice, spinach, and fish (I made myself one of the veggie burgers) for dinner. I wasn’t the hugest fan of the pudding (not enough vanilla taste, or something like that), but it was okay. Tomorrow I’m hoping to make my chocolate chip cookies!!

After dinner, Hugo and Lucas wanted to watch something on TV, so Catherine and I watched a movie upstairs in my room on my laptop.

We looked through the films I brought (region 1—the kind that work on my computer) and she ended up choosing Ever After. I apologized before it even started for the fact that the film takes place in France, but everyone has English accents… Luckily Catherine loves English accents and she ended up really enjoying the film. I paid better attention to the scenery and definitely recognized some of the places it was filmed (Beynac & Sarlat). France is so beautiful!

We’re supposed to have sunny and hot weather until Tuesday, so I’m hoping to go to the beach tomorrow with Catherine and Margot!!


Walking in the woods with Dunja!

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