Monday A really nice man that Amy and I met in the grocery store over the weekend was there again today. He gave me his e-mail address and wants me and Jed to come have dinner with him and his wife sometime. He wants to perfect his English by offering a room in his house as an English-speaking B&B, and he'd like for me to help him get the word out. Sounds interesting.
Wednesday I bought Jed his fourth pair of tennis shoes since arriving in France this morning. He's both wearing them out and outgrowing them. After shopping, he and I had lunch with Dominique and Néo at their friend Martine's house. She served salmon ravioli to everyone but Jed who munched on bread and lettuce.
Thursday I took Rice Krispie Treats to all 152 of my students plus the "surveillants." They were a big hit all around. The kids demanded the recipe and some said that they were going to make them at home that very afternoon. They were really cute. Julien, one of the surveillants, stopped by after school to thank me for putting some in their lounge, and he told me that they brought back good memories of his five years in the US. I can't imagine why he has not told me that until now! He speaks English fluently and sounds just like an American teenager, and he's been holding out on me. I'm now trying to think of a way to use him in my classes. Maybe that's why he never said anything.
Jed had his first handball tournament today. There were three teams from his school competing against schools from all over Montélimar. His team won their first three matches but then lost four and did not make the top five teams. His teammates were really disappointed, but Jed was not at all affected by the losses. He said, "It's just for fun, right?"
The blue team from Le Bouquet
A cookie break between matches
Friday A student in my troisième class asked me "what the fuck" I do all day when I said that I did not yet have their averages, which were due by the end of the day. I actually had them but did not plan to give them out. Anyway, I immediately sent him to the assistant principal to tell her what he had done. I carried on with class, but I was really shaken by the experience. I will KISS THE GROUND when I return to SDS! I think I've said that before, right?
The highlight of the week was spending the night at Carrie's house in Crest. Jeanne and Alex were passing through the area on their way to Grenoble to ski so we had a party. Carrie's friends Fatima, Bruno, Pascale, and Thierry and their children came over, and her husband, Burt, made BBQ chicken and ribs and cole slaw. He then got out his guitar and his mother's old song book from the 70's, and we sang until 2:00 in the morning.
Burt and Carrie
Mary entertained us with her violin and country line dancing.
Maybe I'll learn how to edit film soon and trim this up. I want to make stars out of Carrie and Burt, though, so I'm posting this in all of its roughness.
Saturday We had free tickets so Jed and I went to see a basketball game between Montélimar and Tarascon tonight at 8:00. Our home team won 79 to 65. There were no Kobes on the court, but it was fun.
The half-time show
Montélimar's team
Number 9 (second from the right) was really good.
Sunday I wrote comments on reports cards for a few hours this morning and then Jed and I took a stroll downtown. I didn't expect anything exciting to be happening, but there was a demonstration against nuclear power near the city hall. We got there too late to see the human chain that stretched from Avignon to Lyon, (la région la plus nucléarisée d'Europe) but we did see lots of young people with dreads, dogs, and guitars chilling at the cafés.
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