Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Leaving La Rochelle
I am so sad right now. I feel like I am being torn apart and I'm not sure where the pieces will end up. As we investigate returning to Chicago but finding a new neighborhood,a new school for the kids, and new schedule I feel like I am going to a country more foreign than this was when we came. When we arrived in La Rochelle we had someone help us find a place to live, recommend a good school and were so lucky as to live just around the corner from the school. Somehow I never doubted from the first time I visited the schools that they would be a place where I could be comfortable leaving my kids, even with them not speaking the language. In Chicago, every school is like a fortress, and a labyrnth- they all seem so big, so distant, so troubled, so industrial. I was so set on this idea of having continuity between our experience here and after our return by Miette being able to continue in the bilingual French-American School. After tireless searching, and an increase in our price range for rent, there still is nothing available in the district which is necessary for enrollment in that school. I feel like I am so lost again, and with one week to go , we are back at square one. I know we have been exceptionally lucky here, and that it's not everywhere in France that you find a lovely little neighborhood school that feels like a family, but we have it and I am so deeply grateful for all we have- every teacher in the school knows Miette, and Miette knows almost every name of every kid in the school. There are fewer than 150 kids total. Julian's preschool is across the street, and many kids in his class have siblings in Miette's class. Julian is so loved at his school. It is his little family, full of 5 and 6 year old girls that mother him and boys that he loves to be silly with.
I keep leaving little pieces of myself every time I move- Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Paris, Hyde Park, La Rochelle. I think it's okay for me, but I am realizing that its' not the same thing for the kids. I am not ready to take their hearts away from here yet, though I know they need to reunite their hearts with their Daddy. I want us to be together and I also want them to have a great school, and a great neighborhood, and all the other things we all want for our kids. We do miss friends and family, it's true, but I guess, all the other aspects of day to day living weigh in heavily on my attachment to being here.
I think I need to do a little meditating and reflecting through a Buddhist lens- everything is impermanent, right Lynn? It is uncertain how long present conditions will remain. Everything is fresh and meaningful, radiant with unlimited potential....But grief is natural too, and I am feeling the grief right now. Trying to let it wash over me, not holding on or holding in, just feeling the sadness of letting go, and the sadness of not knowing. Which can be a joy as well, the joy of potential. Anything can happen but nothing is guaranteed. I suppose the best thing I can do for myself and everyone else is to keep my center strong and clear, and my intentions directed towards positive results.
I will finally out up some photos from Julian's Fête de l'Ecole. He is wearing pom-poms on his wrist and "lifting weights". They did a mock sort of fitness competition for the kids "show" to jazz music and it was pretty cute. I tried a few days back to post the video but it took so long then didn't work that it put me off blogging for awhile. Then I got sick and still feel crappy, and Julian got sick as well,and no on e has slept well for a few nights now. And now in my emotional state I have to pack up our stuff, only 11 day to go- and go to a hundred parties in all my spare time.
I keep leaving little pieces of myself every time I move- Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Paris, Hyde Park, La Rochelle. I think it's okay for me, but I am realizing that its' not the same thing for the kids. I am not ready to take their hearts away from here yet, though I know they need to reunite their hearts with their Daddy. I want us to be together and I also want them to have a great school, and a great neighborhood, and all the other things we all want for our kids. We do miss friends and family, it's true, but I guess, all the other aspects of day to day living weigh in heavily on my attachment to being here.
I think I need to do a little meditating and reflecting through a Buddhist lens- everything is impermanent, right Lynn? It is uncertain how long present conditions will remain. Everything is fresh and meaningful, radiant with unlimited potential....But grief is natural too, and I am feeling the grief right now. Trying to let it wash over me, not holding on or holding in, just feeling the sadness of letting go, and the sadness of not knowing. Which can be a joy as well, the joy of potential. Anything can happen but nothing is guaranteed. I suppose the best thing I can do for myself and everyone else is to keep my center strong and clear, and my intentions directed towards positive results.
I will finally out up some photos from Julian's Fête de l'Ecole. He is wearing pom-poms on his wrist and "lifting weights". They did a mock sort of fitness competition for the kids "show" to jazz music and it was pretty cute. I tried a few days back to post the video but it took so long then didn't work that it put me off blogging for awhile. Then I got sick and still feel crappy, and Julian got sick as well,and no on e has slept well for a few nights now. And now in my emotional state I have to pack up our stuff, only 11 day to go- and go to a hundred parties in all my spare time.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
I did it!
That's me coming in to the finish line of my 10 kilometer race this morning. It was hot and sunny and at started at 4 PM, all things I'm not used to when I've been running, and it was a strange experience to have to start out running in a crowd and trying to weave around and pace myself in the midst of so many different runners. My friend Florence who has been "training" with me didn't want to actually do the race, so my friend Lucy ran with me though we had only run together once before. I did the race in one hour (and 22 seconds).That was my goal and I did it! I feel great, but my legs are a little sore at the moment! At the end of the race we all got a rose, a t-shirt, and a cool travel hanging toilet kit. There were many friends along the way that cheered us on- all 2000+ participants!! Miette watched with a group of grown-up friends and we saw other parents and their kids from her school both as spectators and (moms) as runners.
My thanks to Juliet for the initial inspiration to try a race!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Miette at the Masked Ball
Ive got a million and one irons on the fire right now and I haven't had much time to write but a friend sent me this picture of Miette from her school's Masked Ball a few weeks back an I thought it was sweet enough to merit posting.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day in France, and my friend Katie R. formerly from Chicago (well really Iowa) but now transplanted to New York City, is coming here to visit me for a couple days before she heads off to Basel Switzerland for a big art fair there. I am excited to have someone visit me that will actually be excited for me to cook lentils! We were cooking/dinner buddies in Chicago and have a deep common love for Madhur Jaffry the Indian actress/cookbook author. Of course, I'm sure she'll also want to try some real French cooking not made by me as well!
Our time is tick-tick-ticking away here. I think of when I posted in the fall of my homesickness for the US, and now I am having premature homesickness for La Rochelle. I think I will spend the last couple weeks bursting in to tears all the times seeing all the people here we have come to know and who have welcomed and befriended us so warmly. I will miss my students too! I get hellos and huge smiles every time I come to my schools, and feel so appreciated by them, and love the fact that in the beginning of the year I felt I'd never learn these hundreds f names and now I not only know their names, I know a little bit of who they are as well. I never did tell about April Fool's Day here- in one of my classes I decided to play an April Fool's Day joke. It is probably my favorite class as well having the oldest and sometimes very rambunctious students. They can give me a hard time, so I decided it was time to teach them a little lesson as well. So I planned it out with the teacher, and before I started my lesson, he told them I had to talk to them about something. I proceeded to tell them that they were such difficult students that I couldn't return to teach them anymore and that it would be my last day with them. They have never been as quiet as they were when I was telling them this. Then the teacher proceeded to ask them what kind of behavior could have prompted such discouragement from me, etcetcetc.... and their faces were absolutely heartbreaking as I looked around the room. Finally I couldn't keep a straight face and as they saw me crack a little smile, someone said, "It's a poisson d'avril!!!!" (an April Fool's Day joke in French is called an April fish). And everyone's expression suddenly transformed when they saw that I had played a trick on them- they were really shaken to think that I would have left them!! Anyway, it was a funny way to feel loved, but I did. All that tangential story to say there will be some wrenching goodbyes.
Miette even admitted to Ryan on the phone that though she is looking forward to coming back to Chicago, part of her is also really digging being here and finding it hard to think of saying goodbye. She is having sleepovers left and right and her friend's Mom says her daughter is already talking about being sad that Miette is leaving because they like each other so much. The child never wants to speak English anymore either! It's nuts! Our friend Stephanie was over the other night for the first time in a couple weeks and she asked Miette a question and she said she could see on her face that she was trying to formulate her response in English but then just went ahead and answered in French because that was the language in which she was thinking and it just came out more easily.
As for my other activities in the present- the running/race training is a lifesaver. It is absolutely melting away the stress that otherwise would kill me as I plan the transition back to Chicago. I feel very balanced and energized. The friend that is running with me (Florence) proposed a bike tour to Ile de Ré last weekend and so we left the kids at her house with her husband and their 4 kids while we headed off à bicyclette. We ended up doing a full two hour intense non-stop ride on a perfectly divine Sunday, from La Rochelle over the 2 kilometer bridge onto the island. We came back relaxed, exhausted and starving to a late lunch of fresh homemade pesto, green salad, fruit salad, and fresh baked orange cookies all prepared by her husband. We ate in peace as the kids bounced on their huge backyard trampoline.
Running is great, but writing is not so hot! I've been invited to be in a writing workshop (in French) on the subject of immigration, travel, foreignness, etc.. that will be set to music and performed for the Fête de la Musique June 21st. Cool idea in theory and a fun experience overall, but what I see is that I'm not really much of a writer in English to begin with but make me try to be poetic in French and I stare at the blank screen my mind becomes and go uh...duh...duh... but I haven't given up yet. I think I just need to devote a little quiet time and space to writing on my own because at this workshop as we write the musicians are simultaneously improvising and playing which involves loud chanting, gongs, African drums and equals a huge distraction.
Well. That's all for now. I need to keep up writing more often to record all of the last sweet moments here. 5 weeks to go........ Mais moi, je t'aime, La Rochelle!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Il Meurt Lentement
This is a poem by Pablo Neruda that I read aloud in French last night at slamalamer. Valerie had brought it with her and it really spoke to me. It is originally written in Spanish, I read it in French and I am going to post a translation in English although I found that all the English translations I came up with are a little odd in places.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui devient esclave de l'habitude
refaisant tous les jours les mêmes chemins,
celui qui ne change jamais de repère,
Ne se risque jamais à porter une nouvelle couleur
Ou qui ne parle jamais à un inconnu
Il meurt lentement celui qui fait de la télévision son guide
Il meurt lentement
celui qui évite la passion
celui qui préfère le noir au blanc, les points sur les "i" à un tourbillon d'émotions
celles qui redonnent la lumière dans les yeux
et réparent les cœurs blessés.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui ne change pas de cap
lorsqu'il est malheureux
au travail ou en amour,
celui qui ne prend pas de risques
pour réaliser ses rêves,
celui qui, pas une seule fois dans sa vie,
n'a fui les conseils sensés.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui ne voyage pas,
celui qui ne lit pas,
celui qui n’écoute pas de musique,
celui qui ne sait pas trouver
grâce à ses yeux.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui détruit son amour-propre,
celui qui ne se laisse jamais aider.
Il meurt lentement celui qui passe ses jours
à se plaindre de sa mauvaise fortune ou de la pluie incessante.
Il évite la mort celui qui se rappelle qu'être vivant requiert un effort bien plus important que le simple fait de respirer.
Die Slowly
by Pablo Neruda
He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience, dies slowly.
He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones “is” rather than a bundle of emotions,
the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings, dies slowly.
He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives, die slowly.
He who does not travel,
who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself, dies slowly.
He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck,
about the rain that never stops, dies slowly.
He or she who abandon a project before starting it,
who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn’t know,
he or she who don’t reply when they are asked something they do know, die slowly.
Let’s try and avoid death in small doses,
always reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort by far
greater than the simple fact of breathing.
Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui devient esclave de l'habitude
refaisant tous les jours les mêmes chemins,
celui qui ne change jamais de repère,
Ne se risque jamais à porter une nouvelle couleur
Ou qui ne parle jamais à un inconnu
Il meurt lentement celui qui fait de la télévision son guide
Il meurt lentement
celui qui évite la passion
celui qui préfère le noir au blanc, les points sur les "i" à un tourbillon d'émotions
celles qui redonnent la lumière dans les yeux
et réparent les cœurs blessés.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui ne change pas de cap
lorsqu'il est malheureux
au travail ou en amour,
celui qui ne prend pas de risques
pour réaliser ses rêves,
celui qui, pas une seule fois dans sa vie,
n'a fui les conseils sensés.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui ne voyage pas,
celui qui ne lit pas,
celui qui n’écoute pas de musique,
celui qui ne sait pas trouver
grâce à ses yeux.
Il meurt lentement
celui qui détruit son amour-propre,
celui qui ne se laisse jamais aider.
Il meurt lentement celui qui passe ses jours
à se plaindre de sa mauvaise fortune ou de la pluie incessante.
Il évite la mort celui qui se rappelle qu'être vivant requiert un effort bien plus important que le simple fait de respirer.
Die Slowly
by Pablo Neruda
He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience, dies slowly.
He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones “is” rather than a bundle of emotions,
the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings, dies slowly.
He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives, die slowly.
He who does not travel,
who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself, dies slowly.
He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck,
about the rain that never stops, dies slowly.
He or she who abandon a project before starting it,
who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn’t know,
he or she who don’t reply when they are asked something they do know, die slowly.
Let’s try and avoid death in small doses,
always reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort by far
greater than the simple fact of breathing.
Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Twittering little girl
Miette had a friend from school sleep over last night. They had come up with a plan to go together to this neighborhood festival that took place yesterday then come back here for a sleepover and go to school together the next morning (today). Her friend's mother and I agreed with the plan on the condition that they were in bed and asleep on time so they wouldn't be tired for the school day. All went well except for the impression that my child had turned into a French bird on amphetamines. Chirp chirp chirping away in French. Miette took it upon herself to remind me that Marie didn't speak English and to correct my pronunciation of things in French and to make jokes and was basically talking non-stop until they fell asleep at night and when they woke up until I dropped her off at school. It was if she had turned into a different animal. She never talks so much and so quickly when she speaks English! What is going on? It was cute and very annoying at the same time. She was making bad puns in French! (THAT is a talent she inherited from her good old Dad, I guess it doesn't matter what language she's speaking.)
Otherwise, we have had a beautiful weekend of warm weather and relaxed activities. The doors and windows have been open to let in the breeze and the warmth and we dined al fresco on the balcony for lunch on Sunday. The only downside to this is that the spiders are back and they've obviously had an easy winter- they are big, scary, and they bite. We caught the biggest one yet yesterday- the photo isn't great but I'm posting it anyway because I want you to see the beast. Hopefully you can get a sense of scale from the picture.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Les Trois Singes de la Sagesse
This was the beach sculpture of the day- see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. As it happens Miette had just learned about the "Three monkeys of Wisdom" from China in school last week. I think it's also funny that the monkeys also look like topless women.
There's a place in France...
where the ladies wear no pants- but the men don't care cause they're in their underwear. Well, that's not true (so far as I've seen), but I just felt that the toplessness at the beach deserved a blog post of it's own, and the old song we chanted as kids popped back into my head.
YES. They do go topless here, and it's a free for all. We spotted a bit of it last September but the weather was already cooling down and beach season wasn't in full swing. But today was hot and the beach was packed with topless women and men in speedos. Liberté - Egalité - Fraternité (sororité?) All ages, all shapes, all sizes. It's all very cool and nonchalant, a totally not-for-show, comfortable in our skins kind of thing. As I reflected on bared breasts at the beach, I saw one of my students walk by, notice me, and come over to say hello. And I thought, "And now, if I was missing half my bikini, what kind of situation would this be?"
Still debating what picture should accompany this post........
YES. They do go topless here, and it's a free for all. We spotted a bit of it last September but the weather was already cooling down and beach season wasn't in full swing. But today was hot and the beach was packed with topless women and men in speedos. Liberté - Egalité - Fraternité (sororité?) All ages, all shapes, all sizes. It's all very cool and nonchalant, a totally not-for-show, comfortable in our skins kind of thing. As I reflected on bared breasts at the beach, I saw one of my students walk by, notice me, and come over to say hello. And I thought, "And now, if I was missing half my bikini, what kind of situation would this be?"
Still debating what picture should accompany this post........
Monday, April 28, 2008
spring - stone - sky
can i post too many cloud photos? (i am guessing yes, but they never cease to be beautiful to me, especially over the ocean). also the largest poppy ever (probably my favorite flower, followed by lily of the valley). some amazing rocks that are omnipresent here, mitzi was an expert finder of the most amazing ones with perfectly round holes. we also made a rock house last week as the tide crept back up where we had been exploring tidepools and snail activity. when the tide finally chased us away, we ran off the park across the way and romped in the blossom dotted grass. i climbed a tree (and then twisted a muscle in my leg jumping down, that's what i get for being a show-off)
we had some beautiful little moments with the snails and the tide pools. The snails attached to dry rocks appear to be all dried up, as if dead, when you pick one off. But I wondered if they were dead or just waiting for water so i decided to put into in to the shallow tide pool and lo and behold, it's little leg starts to unfurl and extend from it's shell upon contact with water. it seemed to be searching a place to latch onto, to orient itself. it was a bit like those mini-sponges you got sometimes as a kid that would swell up in a full sink of water, magically growing upon immersion. but then, as miette reached toward the snail, wanting to help it to turn itself over, her shadow fell over the snail and it recoiled, shrinking immediately back into itself. no contact whatsoever, just a shift in light. when she moved her hand back it came out from it's shell again. over and over we watched as we would block the sunlight over the snail and it would shrink, remove our hand and see it come back out. and it responded similarly to touching the water's surface or vibrating the ground next to the pool. i was so amazed at the sensitivity of this little creature.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Plug for unplugging
http://www.adbusters.org/metas/psycho/mdw/
Well, its no longer "mental detox week" but I thought I'd put a blurb here anyway having noticed that my brother in law Sean had posted to his facebook profile that he was offline for the week. So I went to the adbusters' site and read more. Though I don't have a TV I have spent more time in front of the computer this year to stay in touch, and as a sort of companion substitute since I'm on my own after bedtime this year. But sometimes it feels like a vacuum and can be a distraction from more fufilling things. So check it out, think about it, turn some things off for awhile, and relax. (you too, Ry!)
Well, its no longer "mental detox week" but I thought I'd put a blurb here anyway having noticed that my brother in law Sean had posted to his facebook profile that he was offline for the week. So I went to the adbusters' site and read more. Though I don't have a TV I have spent more time in front of the computer this year to stay in touch, and as a sort of companion substitute since I'm on my own after bedtime this year. But sometimes it feels like a vacuum and can be a distraction from more fufilling things. So check it out, think about it, turn some things off for awhile, and relax. (you too, Ry!)
I am going to blame my visitors
Yes, I know I haven't been keeping up with the blog and I didn't even really get into telling about Paris or our travels in the Loire Valley. But to my defense, my friend Mitzi showed up here in La Rochelle only one and a half days after our return from Paris. We hadn't even gotten all our bags unpacked yet and we all had little colds and felt kind of tired. But we did a few things around town together until she ate a bad egg and got food poisoning and spent the better part of 2 days between the toilet and the bedroom. During this time her boyfriend joined us as well. They waited for her to recuperate and visited La Rochelle a bit more and then headed off to Paris and Berlin this past Thursday. So this weekend is only my second weekend without visitors or traveling in 6 weeks.
Starting with the present- Finally I can't gloat about our gorgeous weather while imagining the snow being dumped on Chicago. It is absolutely beyond beautiful here but I get the feeling it is for everyone everywhere. People are flocking to the beaches and strolling along the port and one just feels happy to be alive and outside. There are flowers in bloom in every imaginable place- pushing through the cracks on sidewalks, overflowing the walls of yards and adorning vines that creep up the buildings. Miette and I have especially been enjoying the fragrances. I love the way springtime overwhelms all the senses- the wind like soft hands on your skin, smells from blossoms that are so intense it's as if you are eating them, digging in warm sand on the beach, seeing the range of colors exploding everywhere, the magical light at the end of the day, eating sweet little strawberries that are in season again, and hearing birds chattering up a storm. Yesterday walking into town as we crossed a little bridge over the stream in Park Charruyer, we heard a crazy sound and looked over to discover tons of frogs swimming and hopping around and making the wildest noises. So this is probably the real reason I am not blogging, I'd rather be outside!
Since I spent two weeks non-stop with the kids during vacation, starting back to school and work this week actually gave me some alone time again and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and time by walking to my Thursday school rather than biking as I usually do. This school is actually in a suburb of La Rochelle and is thus the farthest away from our apartment. It takes me 25 minutes pedaling fast on my bike to get there so I gave myself ample time to go on foot. Well, this was a great theory, walking and all, but I was wearing my knee high boots and work clothes and after about a half-hour I started feeling the pain of blisters, especially one on the underside of my heel. And I still had about 45 minutes to walk before arriving. I thought of my friend Lynn and her reflections on pain and the precious human body. (She has just started a blog which is already inspiring me but I will talk more about that later). Anyway, I had to seriously meditate to make it 45 minutes uphill with a huge painful blister to get to my classes on time. And then I took the bus home :) (Next time I will wear gym shoes and change when I arrive at work!)
Yesterday we went to the Ludothèque to return some things and walked out with 2 scooters for the kids and a skateboard for me! Julian is bugging me to go outside and use them now and I think that's a good idea so I will wrap this up for the time being. I will note briefly all the things on which I hope to update later today:
-I have started learning a little German with a (German) friend of mine in exchange for helping her practice French (?!) We are going to meet weekly for this exchange.
-I have been running a little bit and biking a ton this year but have been inspired by my friends Juliet (who wrote to tell me she did her first race recently) and Lynn (who is training for a 5K) and I have decided to do the same and run a race in La Rochelle. It is on May 31st just for women called "Les Filles de La Rochelle"and you can do either a 5 or 10K. My friend Florence (with whom I go the gym from time to time) is going to run with me twice a week to train.
-I am trying to educate myself about French music and singers and am borrowing and checking out CDs from the Mediathèque.
-Last night we went to Miette's school's "masked ball" a fund-raiser with dancing and lots of food. It was a lot of fun and made me appreciate what a great group of families are in the school / neighborhood here.
So I am internally dealing with a whole other set of questions relating to the imminent shift that will occur as our time here draws to an end. I am so happy here and the kids are really flourishing. They have lovely friendships, are speaking the language, and are in amazing school communities. I am torn about leaving these things behind and returning to the big city hustle. Miette's teacher and the Directrice want us to stay. Her teacher can't say enough about her astonishment at her level of French and success in school here. But we miss the papa so much and all of you friends and family and I think that the answer is that you should all just move here. What could be simpler? Anyway. I am going to go make a fool of myself trying to skateboard and enjoy the present.
Starting with the present- Finally I can't gloat about our gorgeous weather while imagining the snow being dumped on Chicago. It is absolutely beyond beautiful here but I get the feeling it is for everyone everywhere. People are flocking to the beaches and strolling along the port and one just feels happy to be alive and outside. There are flowers in bloom in every imaginable place- pushing through the cracks on sidewalks, overflowing the walls of yards and adorning vines that creep up the buildings. Miette and I have especially been enjoying the fragrances. I love the way springtime overwhelms all the senses- the wind like soft hands on your skin, smells from blossoms that are so intense it's as if you are eating them, digging in warm sand on the beach, seeing the range of colors exploding everywhere, the magical light at the end of the day, eating sweet little strawberries that are in season again, and hearing birds chattering up a storm. Yesterday walking into town as we crossed a little bridge over the stream in Park Charruyer, we heard a crazy sound and looked over to discover tons of frogs swimming and hopping around and making the wildest noises. So this is probably the real reason I am not blogging, I'd rather be outside!
Since I spent two weeks non-stop with the kids during vacation, starting back to school and work this week actually gave me some alone time again and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and time by walking to my Thursday school rather than biking as I usually do. This school is actually in a suburb of La Rochelle and is thus the farthest away from our apartment. It takes me 25 minutes pedaling fast on my bike to get there so I gave myself ample time to go on foot. Well, this was a great theory, walking and all, but I was wearing my knee high boots and work clothes and after about a half-hour I started feeling the pain of blisters, especially one on the underside of my heel. And I still had about 45 minutes to walk before arriving. I thought of my friend Lynn and her reflections on pain and the precious human body. (She has just started a blog which is already inspiring me but I will talk more about that later). Anyway, I had to seriously meditate to make it 45 minutes uphill with a huge painful blister to get to my classes on time. And then I took the bus home :) (Next time I will wear gym shoes and change when I arrive at work!)
Yesterday we went to the Ludothèque to return some things and walked out with 2 scooters for the kids and a skateboard for me! Julian is bugging me to go outside and use them now and I think that's a good idea so I will wrap this up for the time being. I will note briefly all the things on which I hope to update later today:
-I have started learning a little German with a (German) friend of mine in exchange for helping her practice French (?!) We are going to meet weekly for this exchange.
-I have been running a little bit and biking a ton this year but have been inspired by my friends Juliet (who wrote to tell me she did her first race recently) and Lynn (who is training for a 5K) and I have decided to do the same and run a race in La Rochelle. It is on May 31st just for women called "Les Filles de La Rochelle"and you can do either a 5 or 10K. My friend Florence (with whom I go the gym from time to time) is going to run with me twice a week to train.
-I am trying to educate myself about French music and singers and am borrowing and checking out CDs from the Mediathèque.
-Last night we went to Miette's school's "masked ball" a fund-raiser with dancing and lots of food. It was a lot of fun and made me appreciate what a great group of families are in the school / neighborhood here.
So I am internally dealing with a whole other set of questions relating to the imminent shift that will occur as our time here draws to an end. I am so happy here and the kids are really flourishing. They have lovely friendships, are speaking the language, and are in amazing school communities. I am torn about leaving these things behind and returning to the big city hustle. Miette's teacher and the Directrice want us to stay. Her teacher can't say enough about her astonishment at her level of French and success in school here. But we miss the papa so much and all of you friends and family and I think that the answer is that you should all just move here. What could be simpler? Anyway. I am going to go make a fool of myself trying to skateboard and enjoy the present.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Happy April- Jokes, Travels, Visits and MORE!
So there is much to catch up on, apologies for lack of blogging recently but we've been out of town for more than a week and before that was the end of the term. We've had the Hennessys visiting in La Rochelle and then traveled through the Loire Valley visiting the famous castles with them. We ended our time together in Paris and then the kids and I stayed there for 5 days with a friend and revisited the city for my first time since I was there as a student almost 10 (!!!) years ago. The order of the pictures that I've posted is a bit random and there are tons more- it was hard to decide what to put up, over the next few days I will probably add more as well as some tidbits and stories. I just got another visitor, my friend Mitzi, who arrived last night from San Francisco, so my time is still pulled in more than the usual directions, but I want to catch up on blogging before I start back to work next week. Stay tuned....
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sean and Westie visit!!
These photos are from our day on Ile de Ré with Uncle Sean and Westie. We climbed on church ruins, chased chickens, explored bushy sand dunes, and saw a real rainbow. All on their first day here.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
happy easter!
Today the kids and I made little easter baskets, hoping that the Easter Bunny will make the transatlantic voyage to visit us and leave a few surprises. We don't have much faith in the French flying bell. (in case you weren't aware, in France apparently the church bells leave the church, FLY to Rome and return to France with chocolates which they hide for the children. right.)In France they only get chocolates- no marshmallow peeps, no jellybeans, no dyed eggs, no baskets. Thankfully the Cincinnati Easter Bunny sent jellybeans which makes the holiday for me. For me, Easter without jellybeans is like Christmas without presents. It's all about digging down through the easter grass to fish out each tiny jewel-colored treasure and gorging on pure sugar before breakfast. Tomorrow we are joining some Anglophones for an easter brunch and I may even take the kids to church next door- since we have been watching it from outside for almost seven months now, I figure Easter should be the perfect time to check it out inside. We observed a bit of their Palm Sunday service last weekend- it started outside with all the people holding what looked like branches cut from regular old bushes (unlike the actual palm fronds that we had in church in the States).
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