Eiffel for Paris: Under the Weather...

Just like the world.

I may be living in [slash] near an extremely glamorous city, but there's nothing glamorous about feeling sick. I might have thought that after working with kiddos for 5 years, my immune system could withstand whatever it is that I've got, which isn't anything alarming. However, the French microbes must have something against me. Suffice it to say, I've got "sexy Phoebe voice."

Either that, or a frog in my throat.

Thankfully, with rest and lots of movie-watching ;), I'm beginning to feel better. And that's good, because I'm departing very soon for a few days of travel. That's right, it's vacation time in France. Les vacances de Tous-Saint (All Saints' (Day) vacation) lasts from Saturday, October 22nd until Thursday, November 3rd. Susy and I are planning to visit Lyon and Nice during a 7-day excursion. I'm very excited! I really only worked one full week before being rewarded with a 13-day holiday. I could really get used to that kind of schedule!

Classes went well this week. I was able to have students practice little dialogues based on their written work from our first class together. The popsicle stick idea of choosing volunteers/partners is working like a charm, just like I knew it would (also really helps with learning all 200 names)! For the second session I created a little game using Halloween vocabulary, and I passed out some candy at the end of each class to a chorus of, "Zank you, Cat-ee." (The French don't really have a need to pronounce the th-sound in their own language, but of course, it is oh-so-prevalent in ours...I'll endeavor to work on that with them in the coming months. See what I mean?)

On Wednesday, I spent a few hours with a new friend (a teacher at one of the schools I visited when I first arrived). We had coffee at a local café and then she was kind enough to drive me to her neighborhood (Viry-Chatillon) where we had lunch together at a cafeteria-style restaurant. It was hilarious and great fun, especially because my mother told me before leaving, "Make sure you eat at flunch!" To which I had responded, "Oh, Mom. That place doesn't even exist anymore." Well, that's where Lidia and I ended up and I was forced to eat my words...literally. I think there is even one in Paris, nestled somewhere in the Beaubourg area...I'll have to check it out!

A light photo week, but I'm sure I'll more than make up for it during my travels! Enjoy...