Surprise 10k!

Today began my second week actually teaching classes and I think it went really well. This week's theme: Halloween! For the older kids, I based the lesson off of a clip from Charlie Brown and even though they didn't understand a lot of the words, they still thought it was really funny!


On another note from today, at recess (or "récré[ation]") it came up that I'm a runner. Apparently, there's a local 10k going on this Sunday in the nearby town (village) of Saint Saturnin Lès Avignon, which is a hillier course that goes through a few tiny towns and gives a good view of local scenery. Sylvain, the director of one of my schools, suggested that I run it and then he'd pick me up (his son is running it too) and then invited me to come after the race to his house for Sunday lunch. 6.1 miles seems like a good training run (and it'd provide me with the hills I need to cross train) AND I was flattered by the invitation so I quickly said yes to the plan.

But wait, it gets better. Sunday's run is sponsored by St. Sat's local running club (every town in France has a running club)... and they're called "Les Baskets fumantes" (literally "The Smoking Sneakers")... How could any club have a better name that that? Oh, and the 10€ registration fee covers a tech shirt AND a bottle of wine at the finish... How French is that?! I'm so psyched!


Other than that, the rest of my weekend was made up of run recovery (thankfully my knee is feeling better now!), a trip to the market (and for the weekly pain-au-chocolat indulgence with a few of the other assistants), and a "hot skype date" with Jon and Auburn Foodball:


All of this (fresh lettuce, radishes, grapes, red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms AND broccoli) for only 5€ from the produce stand in Les Halles (an indoor independent market in Avignon)!
The best produce stall ever. (I'm now biased)
Looking very "French" with out baguettes under our arms and our bags of fresh produce!
See? I REALLY wanted to see the Auburn v. Arkansas game, so Jon and I got to hang out "at home" and watch it! Best boyfriend ever pointed the computer at the TV! Best, blurry football game ever! War Eagle!
Most of the aforementioned veggies went (in part) into making tonight's delicious dinner creation: Homemade pasta sauce with organic mini cheese raviolis! (Did I mention my roommate works for an organic pasta company in France and brings yummy things home from work?):

I actually will admit... I called Jon via skype to ask about his normal sauce recipe. Since we started dating, I haven't made my own spaghetti sauce. His are really good, so he gets spaghetti and pancakes as his "signature" dishes.
Voilà! Really delicious, if I say so myself!
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the 10k on Sunday. I might move my long run to Friday instead to give me Saturday to recuperate and get over any possible knee pain again, but other than that, it looks great... Well, minus the 30% chance of "scattered showers" for Sunday... Here's hoping the ridiculous, shutter-shaking Mistral wind will blow those rain clouds away!