Despite being glad that it’s Christmas, I’m STILL sick. :( But, I was determined to make the best of it and I bundled up so Candice and I could go to Christmas Mass at the church (we stopped on the way to feel Chantal’s cat because they’re out of town). It was pretty full, but 90% of the people were probably over the age of 70—I only spotted 5 little kids. Apparently there are lots of Catholics in France, but very few are practicing. The Mass was basically the same as in the US, but it was fun to hear the Christmas carols translated into French. We also sang some traditional French carols, like “Il est né le divin enfant.” After Mass, we went to look at the nativity scene they had made in the church and it was really cool because the surrounding village was Tyrosse! They’d make miniatures of several of the prominent buildings in town! Cute!
On our way home, we stopped at a boulangerie to get a baguette (they stay open until noon so people can be sure to get their baguettes and bûches de noël). When we got home, Candice and I made a big breakfast: pancakes with lots of different toppings (including whipped cream!), a fruit salad (including kiwis, which are grown locally), and baguette with brebis (the local sheep’s cheese)…for Candice, who is addicted to it! The sad part about being sick, though, is that I can’t really taste much. Sometimes I can taste a little bit, but not very well. What a bummer!
Candice and I each had one present under our Christmas (palm) Tree…I gave her some chocolate and a handmade bracelet and my mom had sent me a present, which I had saved to unwrap this morning. It was the coolest present EVER! She had written a whole story (with wonderful illustrations) about my childhood dolls and stuffed animals! It was a sequel to the adventures she had written about them when I went on a trip alone to visit my East Coast family when I was six. But this time, the story took place in…France! What fun! I spent the afternoon curled up on the couch, drinking tea and reading my story! I love it so much!!
Around 3pm, Louis (Philippe’s son) dropped off Boogie, Chantal and Philippe’s dog. I am taking care of her until Friday, while their family is in Paris. She’s a real jumper and she’s not well behaved like Dunja…so it’s going to be a bit of a challenge with the two of them. Oh well, I really wanted to help out in any way that I could since they have been so kind to me.
Later this afternoon, Candice and I swapped teaching ideas and I showed her some of the worksheets I’ve made for my classes. Then we caught up on emails and skyped/called our families.
Instead of having a traditional Christmas dinner, we opted for Mexican! Both of us miss eating Mexican food, so we decided it’d be a good time to make some! However, the guacamole was so spicy, Candice and I were downing water and ended up adding a little bit of plain yogurt to tone it down! Candice claims she was just trying to help me clean out my sinuses…
This evening we chatted and spent a lot of time calling/skyping our families. We had our little pieces of bûche de Noël that we had purchased yesterday at the pâtisserie…unfortunately they were really disappointing! They weren’t a good texture and (so Candice informs me) they didn’t even have a very good flavor! Laaame. Oh well, at least we tried!
Photo: Our pathetic bûches (and the photo refused to rotate...so they're sideways)
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