B-I-N-G-O

Today I taught my first, real lesson! The students at Champignol are learning numbers so we played Bingo. They do very well with numbers 1-10 but it's quite difficult for them to discern between the "teens" and the "tys." Thirty and thirteen sound the same to them so as I was calling out the numbers I had to be very precise. I felt so proper. "Thir-ty!" as opposed to "thirdy." It was a lot of fun and went very well. Next week I am teaching the "Old MacDonald" song, which probably requires singing. In front of everyone. Lovely.

It is funny to see that children are the same wherever you may be in the world. They are just as competitive and worried about their neighbor's work as students in America. They were sure to tell me when someone else was wrong, or to voice their disappointment when someone shouted bingo before they did. Oh how I love children.

It "snowed" again today. Mainly the world looks like it has been dusted with a soft layer of powdered sugar. Nothing like that of Utah, and I'm grateful for it!

I'm also grateful for public transportation, but more grateful for a car at home. Yesterday on my way to church I was waiting at the bus stop after taking the RER to Nogent. If you picture a murder scene from any scary movie you've seen, this is what the bus stop is like. It's down two flights of stairs in this poorly lit {flickering lights included}, cold, concrete, tunnel-like depot. I hate waiting for this bus because I literally fear that that will be the last place I see alive. Seriously. I had to wait for twenty minutes yesterday and I was freaking out the whole time. This guy with 4 teeth walks up to me, gets up close in my face, looks me deep in the eyes and says "bonjour." Ah. I say hello back to him and slowly back up while he is still intensely staring into my eyes. I kind of turn around looking behind me to see if I was missing something but his creepy stare follows me. He says hello again and I say, "um hi?" This happened again, the whole time I'm just praying that he won't try to kill me while I'm waiting for the bus. Luckily he didn't kill me but it was weird and he just kept staring at me. I didn't like it! I truly am grateful that I don't have to walk everywhere, but I just can't wait to have my own form of transportation again. Yikes!

Until next time,

-M