Day 32 & 33

Day 32:

Tuesday, April 21, 2009: We started the day by finishing the movie and then it was time for the test. We were allowed to use a dictionary and our buscherelle (a book with conjugations of tons of French verbs. Because spelling changes occur so much with verbs, even French people use them.) And of course, I forgot my dictionary.

It was okay, I really didn’t need it that much. I didn’t think that the test was too hard but I never really know how I do on French tests until I get them back. After our test we had history again. It was fine. Some people really can’t understand the professor because of his accent but I follow pretty well. We also are talking about the Catholic Church its connection to France and some people aren’t Catholic so it is harder to understand.

After class, I went to Melissa’s house to use the internet. We were hanging out at her house and got a text that our next class had been moved up. Excellent planning; no one tells us anything. We got there almost 30 minutes late; it was okay because other people were later than us. We were talking about Balzac again… I do not understand the professor’s explanations all the time.

After class, I went home and chilled on the terrace. After dinner, I went to Lance’s with Melissa and Meghan. We watched Toy Story 2 in French.



Day 33:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009: Today we had a cooking lesson at the market. We were divided into three groups to prepare a Provencal meal. I was with Shawna, Lance, Melissa, and John to make the pork. Katy gave us the money and shopping list and we bought our supplies right there in the market. They have a kitchen area for groups like us and they also have cooking demonstrations on Sunday mornings. The other groups were cooking Ratatouille and apple pie.

We bought our stuff and started cooking. There were way too many chefs in the kitchen, as the expression goes. I didn’t want to fight for a job so I mostly just watched and made sarcastic comments about what everyone else was doing wrong. My only job was squeezing the lemon and pouring the juice onto the pork. Yey! So then we had to wait.

The pork took the longest to cook. The Ratatouille could have been cooked a lot longer than it was too. The pies were done first. Finally, we were ready to eat. Katy bought plats, plastic forks and knives and napkins and we went to a nearby park to eat outside. We had to bring our own drinks… thanks for telling us that one.

After lunch, a bunch of us went to the island because it was a really nice day. Lance and I took the ferry boat there and Melissa and John walked across the bridge. There were like eight of us who lay out and enjoyed the day. While we were there, we were approached by a cameraman and his assistant and they asked us to be in their documentary about spring. We explained that we were Americans and they probably wanted to talk to people with better French skills but they insisted so we obliged. I said that to me, spring was sun, fresh air, and flowers.

We stayed until about 5 p.m. and then walked home. Everyone left before Lance, Melissa, and I because they had to watch a movie for the Resistance class. John suggested our house without asking Jacqueline and Bernard so I didn’t want to be there when five people came over. It turns out that they couldn’t watch the movie on our TV because it was in a different format or something so they watched it in our living room on John’s Mac. Sweet.

When I got home, Jacqueline cut my hair. She told me that I had a really beautiful face and that I could do some really radical hairstyles but I explained that I was happy with what I had. She wanted her son to cut my hair because he cuts hair for L’Oreal in Paris professionally but I will be in Nice with my family when he visits.