On Ne Peut Vivre Que Le Présent

Sorry folks but jet lag got the best of me and I can't seem to remember the other things I was supposed to tell you after my last post. I'm sure if I can't think of it, nothing was really THAT exciting. Plus we all know how long it took for me to get to my point across last story so... all the better I left my random thoughts behind. Well, the one thing I do remember is how AWESOME my roommate is! She had a big Welcome Home sign up and flowers every where.

Tomorrow starts my first full week back at school. I've got high expectations for what I'm going to do and hopefully these kids will appreciate it all. On Friday a bunch of the younger kids ran up to me chanting "Kahtee" because they thought I wasn't coming back (was supposed to be back Monday, woops). Not sure if they're excited because they like me or they're happy to have the "let's mess around, English hour doesn't count as a grade" class. Either way, the kids who actually want to take advantage of me being here in France will have the chance from now until July. I'm starting an after school club to teach more about the American culture, sports, music, and so forth. Hopefully I can erase the stupid TV stereotypes and explore the reality of life. First lesson, New York City is not the coolest place on Earth, nor will you automatically become famous if you go to Hollywood.

In other news, I've decided to continue my cooking exploration and try a new recipe every week. This weekend I made "Spaghetti à la Gwendal," from the book Lunch in Paris.

This week's challenge? Home-made ratatouille. None of that canned/frozen stuff from now on; going back to the USA reminded me of the "fresh and local" food obsession I took up this past summer. This should be a challenge since I need to cut up an eggplant, 8 tomatoes, and some zucchini and I broke the best knife in the apartment. C'est la vie.

And lastly, the song and photos of the week.

1)The prettiest bird I have ever fed stale bread to (I shall name him Bertrand).

2) The main hospital at sunset.

In essence, the song talks about all the things he wishes he could have done or seen (ex. shown MLK Jr. a picture of Obama, warned NYC about the Twin Towers, made sure the parents of Adolf Hitler never met, etc). He even shouts out to all those affected by Hurricane Katrina. It's a beautiful song in many ways, namely how he would (if he could) go back and change history for the better.

And then there are people who change history for the worse....

What are you going to learn if you choose to ignore erase the problems and mistakes of the past?