Oh.

This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling right now.

It has been a long two and a half weeks. On one side, they have been rather discouraging, but they have also been sprinkled with some absolutely enchanting experiences. Hopefully this weekend will offer a reprieve from everything {and everyone} and I can move on from and put most of what has recently occurred in the past. Just knowing that my wonderful mother is coming in less than a week makes everything feel so much better. I just need her. Tomorrow I plan on heading into Paris to make a stop at Shakespeare & Co. to purchase a new novel, visit Luxembourg gardens and possibly eat some Berthillon ice cream. Sounds wonderful to me!

In other news, MC was robbed today! In our own house!! She was going to sell an accordion {...?} to a man who randomly rang the doorbell and he came in and took 200 euro from her purse. Terrible. She was a little shaken from it and kept tearing up each time we talked about it. I can only imagine. Poor MC. I love her so much and I'm just grateful that she is safe.

By the way, nothing makes me happier {besides a nutella crepe} to receive comments on my blog! I love it so very much. So please, keep leaving your thoughts!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with spring flowers and some sunshine.

-M

Becoming a Teacher

"Becoming a teacher isn’t as simple as going to college and taking the right courses. It isn’t as easy as standing up in front of a group of learners and saying the right things. It isn’t enough to know your subject and be passionate about it.

Becoming a teacher–one who make a difference in children’s lives–is a lifelong endeavor to be the best you can be, to understand yourself, to understand the people you are working with, to think and reflect and wonder and ask questions constantly, and to almost always work harder than any other friend you have in any other profession. Becoming a teacher is a lifelong endeavor to connect… to communicate… to encourage… to support… to challenge set ways of thinking… to scaffold learners to become smarter, more efficient and effective at learning in every way they can–while you, yourself, are doing the same."

-Paula White in Voice Matters-Just Ask My Kindergarteners #blog4nwp « Cooperative Catalyst

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Did you know that in Paris you can rent out little sail boats and float them in certain fountains? It's the most charming and wonderful thing. I've heard about it before but the both times I've been to Europe the weather hasn't been nice enough for this activity, but spring is coming and the boats are out!

They give you little sticks to push the boats away from the edge

The boat cart!

Isn't Paris just lovely?

-M

11 DAYS!!!

I've been sick since I got back from Normandy and finally went to the doctor last night. I found out I have an ear infection! Ew. Luckily I have some medicine and will hopefully be all better for the arrival of my mom...

IN 11 DAYS!!!

Yeah yeah yeah! I cannot wait. My mom is coming to visit! My mom is coming to visit!! Hm hm hmm!

-M

Right now...

Clinton

I want to snuggle up in my mom's bed and watch Bright Star {the most fantastic film} and Grey's Anatomy {the most fantastic television show} with chocolate and avocado toast. I want to go on a drive and listen to Taylor Swift and eat peach shakes from Taco Amigo and then hike Rock Canyon to the butterfly drinking fountain. I want to go to Ream's and to the library. I want to run down the street to Redbox and rent a movie. I want to see the mountains. I want to play my guitar and sing really loudly and off key to Dashboard Confessional. I want to go to my aunt's house and eat her chocolate chip cookies. I want to run away from Old Man Ruper and ride Clinton down Timpview drive. I want to sit in the rocking chair in my parent's room and just hang out. I want 5,000 miles to be much smaller.

Right now, I miss home.

-M

Uh, I love the metro?

I was on my way home from work today, and while waiting for the metro I sat in a little plexi-glass enclosed area. There was another woman waiting with me and after a few minutes, a man walked in and sat a few seats down from me. It was clear that he was slightly unstable with his wide eyes, dark circles and shifty gestures {"You could see the wildness in his eyes, he goes slightly mental, and something kind of clicks." Name that quote!}. We were all sitting peacefully in the beautiful, spring sun, birds chirping in a nearby tree, when I hear the crazy man say, "Bonjour Madame, comment vous-appelez vous?" {what is your name?}. There was silence and he asked again. Nothing. He asks once more and I don't hear a response but can feel eyes on me. I look over and both the man and woman are staring at me. She, with great impatience, and he, leaning forward slightly with a hungry eye. Ah! I quickly looked back down at my book and he says/yells, "OOohhhh! Mais c'est pas possible!"

I looked up again and am hit with the daggers he is shooting from his bloodshot eyes. I mumble something stupid and half in English like "Oh, uh... sorry, I ugh... what? I just want to read my book!" The woman, who clearly has more sense than me, stands up and walks away. He promptly follows suit but stops at the entry way and began pacing back and forth, like those great Bengals that stride up and down the viewing glass at the zoo. Then he started punching the plexi-glass! I was stuck in the little enclosed space while the mad-man is screaming and having a mental freak out. I started thinking of a way to defend myself if he came at me. The best I came up with was to hit him with a cucumber that I had just purchased. Yeah, along with not being a thief, I wouldn't make a good fighter. I sort of smiled at him like please don't punch me next?

Yikes.

He eventually walked away and when the metro came he got on the same car as me. For real? He started smoking, pacing again and sticking his upper torso out of the window. Smart? I shrank down in my seat as far as I could, wishing I had the 1/3 of the Deathly Hallows that would help me disappear {HP!}. Sir, I am sorry that I didn't want to tell you my name!

I still love the metro. I think.

-M

Normandy Trip

I got back from Normandy Friday evening after a week full of WWII museums, cemeteries, long bus rides and many, many children.

I am grateful that I was able to see such a beautiful area that is important not only to the French, but to Americans as well. I learned a lot that I didn't know before and I had some pretty emotional reactions to much of what I experienced {I about lost it when I heard the Marine Corps hymn at one museum. It just made me miss my family, and I felt such pride for my father and what he's done!}.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get many great photographs but I'll share a bit of what I saw and did.

Day One: We went to a WWII museum in Caen and then went to the "Chateau du Molay" where we stayed while in Normandy.

Day Two: We visited Pointe du Hoc, the American cemetery, an Omaha Beach museum, Omaha Beach and a sapinière (a tree farm) where they make cider. The weather was so lovely this day, and then it just got miserable!

The lawn in front of our chateau

The front of the building

My room. I love the wallpaper!

It was SO sunny and windy which resulted in this squinty face. Classy. Also I think Utah Beach is behind me?

Some French Marines visiting all of the WWII sights. We saw them all over Normandy

These parachute dummies were dropped to confuse the Germans.

This only completely reminded me of The Fantastic Mr. Fox. All of those are apple cider bottles!

Mes enfants!

Day Three: We visited Les Arromanches museum {the temporary shipping port constructed by Allies} and went to this field where Germans had stationed these massive guns to shoot at Allied ships

Day Four: We visited a German cemetery and a caramel factory. Normandy is famous for its caramels.

Free caramels!

Day Five: We visited a tapestry that was created in 1070 and is 70 meters long and then left for home. I don't really have pictures from this day. They didn't allow cameras in the tapestry museum.

Whew. That was probably the longest post I've ever made! Normandy was fantastic and I am so grateful that I was able to visit!

-M

Me Oh My!

This is a little video of some of my students. We are riding on the bus to Normandy and I had to catch them on film. There is another video I took but it's not uploading so I'll post it later with the rest of my Normandy trip update!

Aren't they so adorable! Also, I really do know more French than "Bonjour" and "Merci" just in case you were wondering.

-M

Buongiorno

My moim and I booked our flight to Italy today and I'm beyond excited!

Ciao!

-M

France!

Credit goes to Kathy!

Danielle found this one. Lovely.

-M

So much hate. Part 3

I hate packing. I hate it.

I'm going to Normandy tomorrow but I can't get fully excited because I haven't finished packing yet.

I feel like it is some sort of punishment. I would pay someone to pack for me I hate it so much. Anyway, I am leaving early tomorrow morning and will return Friday evening. I am not sure what the plans for the week are, but I do know that we are staying in a castle. A castle!

Magic.

-M

Uh.... Marie-Claude?

I promise this blog ins't turning into an account of my interactions with MC, but I did want to share this story with you.

Last night I went into Paris for FHE {aren't I good?}. I had such a lovely time and it was the perfect way to end what had been a fantastic day. After the lesson I headed home and got back to my house around 10:00. At 11:00 I finally made it inside. My little MC, bless her heart, had locked me out of the house.

By shining my ipod light through the glass door I saw that her keys were in the lock in the door, making it impossible for me to unlock it from outside. No big deal, I thought. I'll just knock on the door and ring the door bell.

After receiving no response to my many alternating doorbell rings and door knocks, I decided to pound on the metal door shutters. It made such noise that I'm sure I woke up the neighbors who were already in bed. Still, no MC. Feeling a little frantic and somewhat cold I went back to the front door {located in the backyard} rummaged through the laundry room/tool shed for something to aide me in breaking into the house. I found a hanger that I thought I could use to pull the keys out of the door. I got down on the steps, put my arm through the cat door and tried, using the hook of the hanger, to pull the keys out. I was able to hook them but I couldn't pull them out because of the angle. At this point, I stared to think of the safest and cleanest metro stations I could sleep at but quickly realized that the words metro, clean and safe don't go together when deciding on a sleeping accommodation. After that I lost all sense of self preservation {what was left}, got down on my stomach and screamed "MARIE-CLAUDE" through the cat door. Multiple times. Nothing. No friendly hall light announcing my proprietor's imminent arrival down the stairs to my rescue.

Bad news.

I pounded on the metal doors again and even pulled a Romeo-esque move and threw some pebbles at her window, which had the same results of my prior tries.

Then, I remembered that when I first moved here MC pointed out her neighbor that I could go to if I ever needed anything.

Hallelujah.

After 20 more minutes of him trying to get in and having his wife call MC over and over, she woke up and let me in. I was completely fine at this point feeling no anger at being locked out until MC started grilling me on what I should have done.

-"Did you ring the bell?"

"Yes."

-"Well did you knock on the door?"

"Yes."

-"...You rang and knocked?"

"Yes MC. And I yelled your name and threw rocks at your window."

Then she said "Well you didn't tell me you were leaving." Whoa whoa whoa. The last time I told her I was going anywhere was one of the first few days I was here. I let her know I was going out for the evening and she told me I can do as I please and I don't need to tell her what I was doing.

AHHHH!

So after everything {and a phone call from MC's daughter} it was decided that the keys will not be placed in the door at night.

Life.

-M

In and Out

I've been working really hard on taking deep breaths so I don't freak out.

We all know that I love MC, right? It's established that I think she is great. So helpful, kind, sweet and so on.

BUT she drives me crazy sometimes.

In addition to the "no blowing your nose with the toilet paper rule," now I am not allowed to do laundry without her here.

Right after I woke up this morning I put a load of whites in to wash. In my groggy, just woken up, somewhat confused stupor I accidentally set the washer to "colors" instead of "whites" to wash my whites. She saw this and dramatically explained to me the error of my laundry ways and proceeded to give me this latest rule. Mind you, my whites came out just fine. The water was just colder, or hotter, or something. But it worked out and no damage was done.

After politely saying that I would no longer do laundry unless she was around, she then opened the fridge and pointed out that I had purchased fresh mushrooms. You can see the obvious problem, right? I told her yes, I did buy them. She explained to me that they don't last long. I responded saying, yes and that I knew they would eventually spoil but that I planned on eating them {because that is why I bought them. To eat}. Then she said I should just buy canned mushrooms. I told her I like to eat them fresh on my salad and what not {is that so unheard of?}. The reaction that followed clearly showed me that eating fresh mushrooms was a wild and crazy idea. I've never seen someone's eyebrow raise so highly over fresh mushrooms. She almost went into shock. This is why I can't eat in front of you Marie-Claude! It's a constant commentary of what, how and when I eat. I know food is important to the French, and that she is trying to take care of me, but it gets old hearing something said about every single meal I have. I just want to eat fresh mushrooms!!

But, after all of that, I still love her and am grateful for her. I just have to remember to breathe.

-M

Ma Vie en Rose

I had the most beautiful day today! I went to my current favorite part of Paris, Ile Saint-Louis. It is the smaller of the two islands in the river. It is quiet and beautiful and so French to me. I just love being there. The sun was shining so I spent a few hours wandering the streets, eating some ice cream from Berthillon and taking photographs.

This is what I saw:

Delicious!

I sat on some steps leading down to the river, bathing in the sun and eating my ice cream. My life is so lovely.

I'm obsessed with this door. Isn't it beautiful?

After a few perfect hours in the city, I came home to tutor Lorraine, ate the most wonderful baguette I've ever had (with some camembert of course) and now I'm going to watch a classic movie. Isn't life grand!

-M

Well, hello.

Dear Reader,

I've not updated my blog in a couple of weeks, mainly I've been doing a lot of the same things so I didn't really feel the need to tell you that I've eaten another crepe (although each new crepe is just as exciting as the last!).

I do have some exciting news though. As I mentioned before, I am going to Normandy with one of my schools, Michelet. We are leaving the 14th and will return the 19th. I am pretty excited. Anyway, today I found out that I get to go for free! How fantastic is that?

Life continues to be enchanting and lovely as ever. The sun has started to make longer appearances each day, thank goodness, and the temperature continues to climb. I am longing for springtime. Springtime in Paris? Nothing better!

A la prochaine!

-M