From there, I went directly to my hardest class. The most difficult student had returned, so it was more exhausting. I wish the teacher would stay in the classroom—22 students is a BIG class!! We worked on the names of the months and some know them better than others… I tried using a song about the months, but it didn’t go over that brilliantly. There are always some that really try and others who just ignore me unless I’m yelling at them or asking them a direct question (which they can’t respond to because they weren’t paying attention).
I had a few hour break then, so I headed to the bank to take out some money. It’s brilliant because the lady at the desk always knows who I am and she just asks “How much would you like?”—no ID check, no account number…it’s great! I do have to sign, of course, but it’s super fast and simple! Then I walked over to the market to pick up produce. In addition to what Catherine requested, I bought a medium-sized pumpkin. I will attempt to make it into pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving next week! Hopefully it turns out well!
Today I packed a lunch and brought it to school, so I could eat with the other teachers. I also brought a pan of my (somewhat failed) pecan fingers. They taste good and, since no one here knows what they’re supposed to be like, everyone liked them! I will definitely have to make them again—but normal ones. During lunch, one of the English teachers, Virginie, showed me some of her notebooks of English worksheets and a CD of listening exercises. I borrowed them to copy later during my break.
I had class with the 7-8 yr olds in the library. Today it went a little bit better. We worked on numbers the whole time and practiced saying “I’m 7!” or whatever number was on the flashcard I gave them. And, of course, a bit of coloring at the end of the class.
Since I had a break from 2:15pm-3:45pm, I spent the time in the staff room looking through the English notebook. I made a bunch of copies and also took some of the songs from the CD. Those will be very helpful!!
My last class of the day was with the calm and attentive class of 7-8 yr olds. It was a great class today! I tried to speak more in English and we played a few games. I started with us counting to 10 a few times, then I gave flashcards with a different number on each to half of the class. They had to stand up and say the number that was on their card. Then the other half of the class did the same thing. Next I asked each one: “How old are you?” and they responded with whatever number they had on their card: “I’m 2,” or whatever! It went really well! Next we played a game using numbers on a tic-tac-toe board and they had to split into two teams: girls vs. boys. It ended up in a tie, 2-2. Thank goodness! And, at the end, they worked on finishing their coloring pages from before. Excellent class!!
Afterwards I asked Hélène (one of the CM2 teachers…10-11 yr olds) for some colored paper so I can have the classes make Thanksgiving cards next week. I want them to make pop-up turkeys (using a tracing of their hand), so I needed brown construction paper. I also spent about 20 minutes in the staff room, cutting huge pieces of white construction paper (for the cards). Pablo was hanging out as well, so he was nice enough to help me manage the paper cutter (I swear, you seriously need 3 hands!).
By the time I got home from school, I was really tired. I spent some time just hanging out in my room and then I got ready to go to folk dance class! Yes, those same kind people who helped me out when I arrived in Tyrosse for the first time (and was absolutely lost)! One lady gave me her email that first night and I contacted her about joining their group. Once I had the info, I invited Margot and Pablo to come as well!
Around 7pm, Aurélie (the lady I contacted by email) picked up Margot and I to head to folk dance class. It’s on the opposite side of town (about 3 miles from our house) and it’s not particularly safe to ride bikes at night here (no streetlights on some streets, no bike lanes, no helmets, no bike lights, etc… Pablo lives nearer to where they meet, so he walked over.
When we first entered the room, I was so surprised to see about 20 people (mostly kids) on stilts! Yes, apparently the traditional dance for this area is done on stilts! Some people dance on the ground, but others (I think traditionally it’s the guys) do the dances while on stilts! Incredible! Margot got to try out the stilts (maybe I will next time…) and she did pretty well!
Photo: Margot practices walking on stilts
We discovered that the dances they were doing tonight were only for girls, so Pablo just watched (and very kindly made some videos for me!). I felt kind-of bad for having invited him to dance, but he seemed okay with just watching.
Photo: Stilt-Dancers!
I, on the other hand, jumped right in! It wasn’t too hard (especially having danced with Dana for so many years!) and it was really fun! I especially liked that there was an accordionist there to play some of the songs! Very cool! I met a girl named Morgan, who was also there for her first time. They seem like a nice group (the only awkward part being that some of my students were there—including the most difficult one who is suuuuper annoying…) and I am looking forward to going next Friday! They meet every Friday and it costs €18 for the whole year (until June)! I think Margot might join as well, which would be fun!
Aurélie gave us a ride home at 8:45pm and we arrived just in time for dinner! It was a delicious potato, zucchini, egg, and cheese casserole with a kiwi for dessert. I don’t normally like kiwis, but since they’re grown around this area, I decided to try it. And it wasn’t so bad!
After dinner the twins headed to a friend’s house and the rest of us watched “Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief”—in French, bien sûr! I realized tonight that I understand movies in French quite well now (most of the time). Excellent!!
Right now I’m not feeling homesick at all and I’m really happy. Hopefully it’ll last—maybe I’m getting over it? Or maybe it’s a phase? We’ll see! :)
Check out my videos from tonight's FOLK DANCE!
http://youtu.be/TaOYRcXM0wI
http://youtu.be/LlHgb7kaGc8
http://youtu.be/MfVFU-VQQFY
http://youtu.be/cCuejZULF5k
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