The Best Text Message

If my cell phone had the option to save a text message forever, I would surely save the message that told me that my flight to London has been cancelled. That and the following message: The flight to Philly has been cancelled. It's been a very stressful day but my French family has been more than amazing helping me through this. We are off to Geneva tomorrow to try a different airline and a different airport.

The Top Ten of 2010

As I make the trek home over the next few days, I figured it's best to compile the ever-growing list of U.S. things I miss here in France. Below are the things I am most excited to see, consume, or do, once I get off the last plane (well besides being with my family and friends of course!).

1. My Bed. I cannot wait to sleep with a feather bed under me, two pillows for my large head, and more space to roll around in than this pig pen set up in France allows.
2. Bath time the American way, aka "No more awkward shower time!" Well at least for a week I won't have to awkwardly hold the shower head in one hand, squeeze shampoo into the other, and attempt to wash my hair without spraying the whole bathroom with water.
3. The Philly skyline and the suburbs decorated with Christmas lights. The lights here are very sporadic and they do not know how to hang Santa decorations. (See example.)
4. A Wawa Hoagie and a Philly Cheeseteak, maybe even at the same time if I want to live up to the Fat American stereotype.
5. Not worrying about the grève in order to get anywhere and just getting into my lovely 1996 Honda Accord and going where I want, when I want. I'm really going to love having to walk 30 steps to my car rather than a half mile to the bus stop and then waiting there in the cold if and when it comes to pick me up!
6. HUGS! As chic as the double cheek kiss may seem to foreigners, les bisous are exhausting, confusing (which way and how many kisses depends on the area of France and/or person), and not as rewarding as a big huge hug, especially when you see someone you really love, miss, or haven't talked to in a long, long time.
7. WXPN and, let's be honest here, American Rap.
8. Starbucks Coffee and Teavana Tea (in extra large cups, rather than these tiny espresso cups I can never seem to enjoy because they're essentially shot glasses that are never good enough during those really cold days.)
9. Reading a book next to the wood burning furnace with my cats and dogs sleeping soundly by my side, in lieu of, the "every fourth tile" heating system in this apartment.
10. Christmas at HOME!

There ya go folks! I've admitted it; I've missed a lot the past three months and I've realized how lucky I am to have all this at home. So, no worries, I have not turned French on you all. Furthermore, I'm super duper excited to come home despite my new cold. So for now,  have a great weekend and I'll talk to you when I reach the other side of the pond! Out and Over! XOXOX

 (Gaëlle's CM2 class that almost made me cry with their surprise singing, dancing, and cards.)

(Rudolph cupcakes for our Christmas party.)

La Fête de Lumières

Cou cou,
It's been a while and I have quite a lot to explain, so go grab some coffee, sit back, and relax.

First, let's start with last weekend, the French flu. This was definitely not my highest point here in the land of wine and cheese. After a wonderful dinner party, I thought I had just eaten too much. Nope! A interesting fact (of course which I learned the hard way) is that you get reimbursed for any medicine you buy at the pharmacy. Since I was unable to even get out of bed to go to the doctor, I didn't have the required signature to get reimbursed. Yet, the medicine was relatively cheap (16 euros for 3 different drugs). I went back to school on Tuesday and the teachers were all shocked to see me. I guess my American "time equals money" work ethic hasn't fully faded away. Or maybe I felt the need to get into a school to at least feel somewhat studious after eating my brain cells away watching the whole season of Keeping Up with the Kardashian's. You decide.

That brings us to Wednesday, December 8th. The Immaculate Conception for all you Christians and the opening night of the Fête de Lumières for all my fellow Lyonnais. The myth goes somewhat like this. Back during the Black Death (Plague), the Lyonnais prayed to the Virgin Mary, asking if she could protect them from the plague. They were saved and as a result they promised to dedicate a church to her, now known as La Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière.

The actual facts according to the church: In the 12th century, the church was dedicated to Mary. In 1643, when the plague traveled throughout Europe, Lyon was put under Mary's protection. Every year, on September 8th (Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the important leaders in the city would climb the hill to give their monetary donation (a resemblance of the three Wise Men in a sense). In 1832, they were spared from Cholera and the city decided to thank the Virgin Mary by creating a gold replica for the top of the church. The statue was supposed to be unveiled on September 8th, but a flood in the workshop pushed the date back to December 8th. From then on, the Lyonnais have celebrated by putting candles in their windows at night and marching in the street in celebration of Mary.

Today, the festival consists of 3D I-Max type light shows, parades, street concerts, and lots of food stands. From what I was first told, I expected the entire city to be lit up non-stop so that night time would be non-existent. Despite the initial disappointment, I went out every night to make the most of what my home has to offer. Here are some of the beautiful things I saw:

 (Quidditch anyone?)

( Opening Night Fireworks)

( The crowd on Wednesday night)

( Place des Terreaux )

 ("Neigh")

 (The Wednesday night crowd continued.)

( "Thank You Mary")

 (Passerelle Saint Vincent made into a foot bridge full of umbrellas.)

 (Gare Saint-Paul)

 (This light show consisted of a little girl moving around the wall in search of her cat.)

 (The lights in Vieux Lyon.)

 (L'abbaye Saint Martin d'Ainay- The oldest church in Lyon dating back to 1107.)

 ("Passagers"- Representing clouds floating throughout Vieux Lyon).

Wednesday was absolute mayhem; Thursday was very calm and I was able to climb the hill to the Fourvière and give my thanks; Friday I walked around Croix-Rousse (the northern end of the city) and the Parc Tête d'Or; and Saturday I gave my visitors the grand tour. Each night I got the chills from one of the shows or demonstrations. The mixture of the bizarre 21st century artwork, colorful reflections on the two rivers, and the historical aspect of this holiday reminded me how lucky I am to be here and how I really need to see all I can. The French know how to hit your core with their artwork. It's not that you want to cry; it is more so an overwhelming feeling of being alive. A little dose of inspiration to do something amazing with your life, if you will.

When Did I Get So Old?

As I walked home from the bus in the slush-ice mixture this afternoon, I thought to myself, "When did I get so old?" Thinking back on my day, I noticed how I told the kids to stop stomping in the slush while waiting for the teacher to take them into class. Stomping on ice was my favorite activity if there wasn't any snow left to build anything...so, why am I suddenly the Scrouge? Maybe because they were getting me wet with the slush? Or maybe I'm slowly losing my imagination and need to refrain from being such a serious person. The child in me did return though! Thirty minutes into class, as I was teaching weather, one boy took his imagination and ran wild. With each type of weather, I demonstrated an action to help them remember. "Windy" involves flailing your arms about and going "Shoooo" or "Feeeeooo." He must have decided that he was in a Category 5 hurricane, because he was flailing all about and bumping into other kids and desks. Is is bad that both the teacher and I started bursting out laughing? I hope I can control myself tomorrow when the Head of the Lyon Academy comes to observe the classes.

In other news, as some of you might already know, it snowed here. I'm going to guesstimate that it was around seven inches. Although I already didn't have to go to school, I was still able to enjoy the snowy day!

 (Outside my bedroom window Tuesday night)

 (Our "garden")

 (Velo'v bikes covered in snow)

 (Pretty fountain in the 6th arrondissement)

 (on the Quai of the Rhône)

 (Attempting to go sledding)

 (My French snowman)

(Success! We found the perfect spot!)

Hope you all are keeping warm at home! Now that I've seen snow AND it's December, I can officially play Christmas music, make excuses to buy more presents, and wear fluffy snow boots without heels! We're off to the Christmas market now! XOXO

The First French-American Thanksgiving c. 2010

To all of you in the USA, it's should be about time to cut up the turkey!! And while you munch away on the string beans, slather your mashed potatoes with butter and gravy, and pass the stuffing, I wish you "Bon Appetit!"

Here's how it went down in France yesterday:

 (Before)

(Beautiful Flowers from Melanie and her husband, Hussam)

 (Nathalie M. and her boyfriend, Jonathon singing along)

 (Christelle and Delphine)

 (The infamous Marc and his "Brazilian son," Ewerton)

 (Most of the 14 teachers who came for dinner :) )

 

(Hussam cutting the chicken/ make-believe turkey)

 (And the festivities begin!)

 

 (My masterpiece)

 (Trying to live up to my family name with the decorations...leaves on the pumpkin pie, an apple tree on the apple pie)

  Dinner consisted of two (as large as I could find) chickens, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, cranberry bread, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Of course, this wouldn't all have been possible if Nathalie didn't lend me her kitchen all day yesterday.  In between dinner and dessert, we were serenaded by Marc and his "L'amerique" song. He tried to get me to sing CCR for everyone (since we all know I'm a professional and he thinks just because I know the refrain I know the whole song) but no sir! Not me. We were able to Skype for a little with my brothers and the teachers found it hysterical when Declan told them "Shut the Door" instead of "Je t'adore." All in all a great time and I am quite proud to say I didn't burn a thing!

I told them they were my new French family...and they really are. Everyone has been supportive since I arrived. They constantly check to see if all is well in my apartment, if I have enough to eat, if I need help with my lesson plans, if I want a ride home, do I want to come with them to this or that this weekend. And while I'm homesick after seeing everyone on Skype tonight, I have more than enough to be grateful for today. I've got an American family and now a French one. I have so many people that support me and I have a wonderful life. And while I may complain about things from time to time, I know that I am very blessed and fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life. So thank you all for reading, for supporting, and helping me learn one day at a time in this thing called life. Here's to you all and to the next year!

Miss you tons and love you lots!

GOBBLE GOBBLE