Today is Julian's first full day of school including lunch at "la cantine". Consequently, I accomplished a great deal since I didn't have to rush back from something to pick him up at noon! I hope that he isn't too exhausted from his big day but he was fine this morning when I said goodbye and I think he is taking things in stride. I set off to the Prefecture to apply for the carte de sejour, the residency card one has to have if you come to stay here from outside of the EU. Luckily, it went smoothly and I had everything they needed so, knock on wood, that is in process without complications! I got to explre the city on foot a lot afterwards and finally stumbled upon the Place du Marché in the center of town where they have the city's main open air fruit/vegetable/fish market. On Wednesdays and Saturdays it is bigger but there is a smaller version all the other days of the week. I didn't buy anything today but I think I'll go back with the kids tomorrow morning and shop. They have the most beautiful strawberries here and I am dying to get some. I haven't seen anything resembling the huge pale american variety one usually finds inthe supermarkets back home- here they are all small and a totally bright succulent red. They have tons of beautiful grapes as well but, contrary to the states, most of them have seeds! I am already frustrated again by the difficulty of being vegetarian here, the same as when i was in Paris. You really can't even get a salad in a restaurant that doesn't come with ham or chicken on it. Only the pastries are meat-free and I try to restrain from indulging in them too often! I must say that the french are obsessed with their yogurt and cheese and we are enjoying that. We love "fromage blanc" which is sort of like yogurt but we can't figure out exactly what makes it different- it's a bit thicker or something. I am really missing cooking our staple mexican meal of bean burritos with homemade guacamole! Black beans and pinto beans don't seem to exist here and it is not easy to find tortillas. Hopefully the one grocery store I haven't been to yet will have some hidden treasures......Obviously I am not someone who has come to France because I am in love with the cuisine.

Here is a little bit about school here for the kids: Their schools are a half block from our apartment which is amazing, and they both start at 9 AM. The morning session goes till 12, lunch and recess till 2 and the afternoon session until 5. So the period from 12-2 is totally for eating and playing outside which means no rushed lunches like Miette had at Lenart in Chicago! For those of you reading this that didn't hear it already, their lunch is eaten at tables set with real plates, silverware and cloth napkins and they eat in courses! They have bread with every lunch, choice of milk or water and occasionally juice, and Miette was so excited the day she got salad at school! (I don't think Julian will feel the same about salad but I'm sure he will be introduced to a whole world of meat that he would obviously never have experienced at home!) Miette's school will do different sports activities around La Rochelle throughout the year and starting in December they do swimming lessons as a class during the winter months. Julian's class goes outside 3 times a day to the school courtyard/playground which is shared by the three classrooms at his "ecole maternelle".

I start my job Monday October 1. Our first day is just an introduction to what we will be doing and walking us though other practicalities related to living abroad here. If they've figured it out yet we may get our schedules but from what I've gathered it often takes them a long time to figure out what schools need us during what times and so forth so we still may have a little bit of lag time before actually entering the classrooms. I won't complain! Though I am ready to have a little more structure in the day to day, there are still plenty of things to do with my free time! It will be nice to meet the other people that are here to do the same job- so far I have met 3 of them, one australian and 2 british women. I think I may be the only american among the english speaking natives!

Turning 30 in La Rochelle

Well, not that I actually feel different but I feel that this birthday signifies moving into the next chapter of life. The next decade beginning in a new country definitely gives it a positive spin. I had my first dinner party Sunday evening and now have been invited out for a birthday dinner this evening with my propriétaire, his wife and another couple. Their teenager will babysit! I am definitely looking forward to having an evening out after what has probably been the longest strtch in the past few years that I've gone without being able to leave the kids home in the evenings and visit with friends, go out to dinner, see a movie or whatever!

I feel very cared for today as I've received many cards in the mail, a couple packages, and countless emails and e-cards. It's amazing how much the computer has changed my experience here compared to when I was a student in Paris and had only letters and the occasional highly regulated phone call. As an FYI, it seems that with global priority mail, it takes about 5-6 business days for packages, and wih express about 3 and letters seem like they've come within 7 days of being sent.

I have been letting the fact that I am here with the kids and don't have to work for another week sink in. I am just sort of realizing that, although briefly, I am doing what i really have wanted to do for awhile- just be here for them. It is great that when they are home with me, it is just us and no other kids and people running in and out all day. There is a kind of calm that we haven't had in such a long time in our home and maybe that's why I am feeling so settled. I can think of just me and them. Julian seems really happy with it. He is so perfectly content to be here, with me all the time, just chilling.

Yesterday Julian kissed me goodbye at sat quietly playing at the table when i dropped him off for school. he had a little fit in the morning when he woke up and i told him it was school day but quickly got that out of his system so that when we actually went he was fine. yeah. his teacher even said "il a même travaillé un peu!" Today was the same, calm as could be at dropoff and all morning with no problems or sadness.

2 little things i've been wanting to note. Julian is obsessed with the letter slots in people's doors here! Everytime we walk down the street he goes to each door to see what kind of letter slot they have and pushes his hand into it to look inside and check it out. One morning a woman actually opened her door when he did it, thinking someone was coming by with mail only to discover it was a little curious boy playing. Very cute. I think he is super curious about them because on our street, all the houses' front doors are right up on the sidewalk and of course the letter slots are at Julian's eye level, and there are many different little variations in each of them, old and decorative, push-in, pull-up, two sided, and so on. The other thing he and Mimi are both noticing all the time is the dog poop! It's closer to their eye level! But even though you don't see litter on the streets, no one ever scoops the poop and there are so many small dogs that you have to look down as you walk to dodge the tiny turd bombs everywhere.

Julian is enjoying play-dough right now. He's making spaceships with fire coming out and doors that really open. Yesterday he made a playdough face with 2 long arms coming out of either side. most everything he does/plays with/makes involves having fire coming out of it somewhere. He loves his race car undies because those race cars have fire coming out of them!

Yesterday and today it rained in the morning but now the wind is blowing the clouds away and the sun is coming through. so far that is a pattern. If it starts gray, it blows off my midday. most days start chilly and heat up to the mid 70s and then cool down in the evenings again. lovely. I do wish we'd get a day that stayed grey all the way through, just to satisfy my love of cozy overcast weather, but i really won't complain.

YEAH!

Welcome to the blog. Today I can't write much because I have to leave and pick up Julian from his first calm day at school here. Last week was difficult for him but he had settled down by Friday and this morning's drop-off was a calm kiss and goodbye. I am proud of him and glad we are moving forward. Next step is getting him to the routine of being at school for the morning and afternoon. That is the project for the week before I begin my job next Monday October 1st when he has to go for the full day so I can work.

Tomorrow I turn 30 in France! I turned 21 in Paris and now pass into the next decade here in La Rochelle. I have a dinner invitation with my proprieteur and his wife and we had our first dinner party last night with 2 other anglophone families.

More soon!

testing this out

hi anyone, i am not sure how i'm going to get this blog going if i can't figure out how to post so i'm giving it a try. if this works, then i'll try to start keeping a log of how things are going here on this blog so everyone interested can check in with us in la rochelle.

wish me luck!

eva