Christmas Cheer and Thursday Lunch

Today's been a good day--I've been really productive, which has kept me upbeat AND I got to work with my kiddies today. There's something just unbearably adorable about singing "Deck the Halls," "Jingle Bells," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," that just makes it impossible to be really sad during those 8 hours. Have I mentioned how adorable they are lately? I mean just take a look at these photos of our pumpkin pie making endeavor last week that Anita (who teaches my CM1/CM2 class) put up on the school's website:







Seriously. How can they not make you smile? I'm just trying to take it day by day and be as happy and busy as possible and these days spent teaching really help. Furthermore, the mince pie party was a success, though I sadly didn't get any photos of Becca's "pies." They were really more like mince pie cigars since she didn't have any moulds and instead rolled pastry up after putting mince inside. Yummy. I also spent the day after tagging along while Kyle did his Christmas shopping. Avignon is doing it's very best to get me in a Christmas-y mood.




Yes, Avignon had a band of clowns and elves (who were playing brass instruments) meandering through the streets to spread Christmas cheer
We stopped in the Hotel de Ville (city hall) to see the huge "crêche" of Santons. It was immense and gorgeous.
At the Hotel de Ville, they also had a fake table set up demonstrating the 13 desserts of Christmas, a traditional meal for Christmas Eve in Provence. THe number 13 represents Jesus and his 12 apostles.

And last but not least, here are photos from today's delicious lunch at Jean-Yves and Véro's house. Sadly I'll miss next week's lunch, so this is it for me for 2010! New Year's Resolution: take real camera (and not just cameraphone) to future Thursday lunches.

A "velouté" (cream soup) with artichoke and goat cheese, with nuts on top
Shells of seafood (see the plate's shape)... i.e. mussels, scallops, shrimp, and mushrooms in a cheesy, caloric sauce with a side of braised endives
Dark chocolate mousse cake with crystalized oranges
The oranges on some plates we so crystalized that we couldn't get them off the plate... See here how Jean-Yves must use a heavy-duty spatchula to make it happen
Anyway, that's been the past two days around these parts. Now I'm just working on finishing up the supplementary materials for all my grad school apps. I also applied to Wisconsin's French program tonight as well. It's not my first choice, but it's a solid one that was ruled out with Jon due to snow... We'll see. Even applying seems like a step in the "moving on" direction. That said, still keeping my fingers crossed for Atlanta! :)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's scheduled run with Helen!

23 miles = One French Meal?

And here it is... my first French school vacation. After a mere two weeks of teaching (plus a few of training), I have a week and a half for the "Toussaint" or All Saint's Day holiday. Originally, I wasn't going to go anywhere, but I found a cheap 33€ round trip train ticket, so I'll be visiting some family friends for a few relaxing days near Carcassonne.

Vacation started a bit earlier than anticipated, since I sidelined myself Thursday after teaching two classes due to a stomach bug. I thought I'd be able to pull through after being up all night sick (since I didn't really want to flake out on them on my second day in that school—I only see each school 1x/week), but, in the end, I had to come home and put myself to bed. Well, that is, after missing the bus by 10 minutes and thus being forced to wait 2 hours for the next one... Yeah, so I fell asleep on a bench like a hobo, whatcha gonna do about it? ;)

Anyway, after eating only 8 points yesterday, today was looking a bit iffy for my long run (I moved it to Friday so I could do the 10k Sunday pain-free). Thankfully, I woke up feeling 100% better so I decided to venture out. I tried to keep an really slow pace (13 min/mile) so as to not push it too much and, due to time constraints more than not feeling well, I only ran 8 miles instead of the anticipated 10. But, it was worth it to me because I wanted to make sure I was home in time to skype with Jon and his parents before the 'rents left to drive back to Alabama! I won't "see" them again until I'm home for Christmas. Due to the slow pace, it was a really easy run, actually. I'm not used to thinking that I'm capable of running 8 miles without dying, so it's pretty surprising to realize. Very cool. I was talking with my dad over the internet today and he mentioned that I'm probably in the best shape I've been in my entire life... and, you know, he's right. So odd to think about really. I'm also finally getting used to where I run so I can better plot out my routes distance wise. That was another problem with today's run--I overestimated the distance and got home with 2 miles left to go!

Saw this when I was out for my easy 8-miler. Bonus: in English!
Other than that, I experienced both ends of the food spectrum this weekend. Classy, traditional French dining with my friend Christèle and then tonight's homesick McDonald's with Claire:

Classy dinner. Main dish: Duck with potatoes au gratin and green beans
Moelleux au chocolate... as in a brownie that's melty in the center
McDo outing. I'm the tiny diet coke, the pineapples, and the mini mcflurry (well, that's regular size for France)
I opted for a Happy Meal...which is, much to my dismay, DEFINITELY not worth how many points it ends up being...

The top meal was worth more than all the APs I'd earned running this week (I think I also may have over-estimated) and the bottom was worth at least half... Verdict: McDonald's is SO not worth it... but that first meal SO was! I don't eat like that often at all, but it was really nice catching up with an old friend over a good meal, and I had the APs to do it!

And now, I leave you to go run the 10k! I also leave you with another interesting article on these French strikes... Oh and WAR CAM EAGLE! What a game last night!!!!

Oh, you know just some striking.

First "Mini-Weekend"

I'm continuing to get settled in and to attempt to develop a regular schedule. So, my schedule in France is pretty sparse so far, meaning that I only teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving me with a weekend in the middle of the week. As a result, I'm going to try and use that time to finish my grad school applications (already turned on in to Vanderbilt), read up on the subject I'm proposing to study, and to get a good amount of running and training in for the race.

Monday was my first day at school and I can honestly say I think the kids really liked me (see photo). I taught my first lesson on the USA and its states. We listened to the song "50 Nifty United States" and then played US State bingo. With my older kids, it was a hit, but, since I didn't know I was going to have the K-3 level kids at my second school, I wasn't really prepared for them. I'll be better next week.
During rainy recess, my CM1 (i.e. 5th grade) kids drew this on the board for me. I have a few photos of them all posing with their art, but I don't really feel right about putting their photos on the blog.
Yesterday was my day off, and I'm not going to lie, I did lounge around quite a bit. After the strikers woke me up from my daze, I did convince myself to get in the 5 mile run I'd set out to do yesterday.

Yesterday was a national strike in France. One thing to know about French people is that they are very active when it comes to striking and protesting. Here's a quick shot from my bedroom window as the "grêve" (strike) passed by, singing, chanting, and yelling. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I don't actually know what they were striking about.
Here's the run. This is the same area I ran on Saturday, only today's run was shorter (and by myself). It was a beautiful afternoon and I had to keep reminding myself to really enjoy and take in the scenery rather than to just focus on the run. It's just so pretty here.




Did you see these splits? I just want to make sure you see that they're all sub-12-minute/mile splits. For a 5 mile run. This is definitely a new personal best there. I shaved around 2.5 minutes off my average 5 mile time (I believe). I'm pretty excited. Also, on a sidenote, I'm REALLY happy I bought the water belt. I know it probably makes me look like inspector Gadget when running, what with my garmin, my ipod, and now a belt, but it's so nice to have out here, especially since there's absolutely no where to get water on the island.

Remember how I said how pretty it was here? Here are a few photos I snapped on my phone during the run. I need to go back and get some of these with my real camera... once I find a converter so I can charge it.

Here's the path next to the Rhône river I was running on on the ile. Up ahead is the bridge I use to cross over from Avignon to the Barthelasse.
Avignon's two most famous monuments: the Pont d'Avignon (I'm sure some of you have heard the song, right?) and the Papal Palace. I really wish I'd had my real camera for this photo.

Me. Post run in the elevator back up to the apartment. Yes. After running 5 miles, I did stoop to taking the elevator home. Oh well. PS, see what I mean about inspector gadget?
Oh, and to add, two photos from Claire's phone from our outing (my run/her bike ride) on Saturday:

Taking the ferry over to the island for our exploring fun run over there.
Claire decided to bike ahead and get my photo while running. I think this actually might be the first anyone's ever taken of me (aside from the ones you have to buy from race photographers)

Well, there you go. I'm so glad Mr. Garmin didn't give me any trouble uploading this particular run. I was SO freaked out when I thought he was broken... I don't know what I'd do without him!

Oh, and last night, I went with some of the girls to the CUTEST restaurant I've been to in Avignon: Ginette & Marcel's. While the one lady was really bitchy to us, we had a great time at this tartine restaurant. Definitely click on the link and check out the photos. It's the most adorable and quaint place. I got a smoked salmon/cream tartine and a small slice of chocolate/pear tart. Very reasonably priced and delicious. Can't wait to take any of my visitors there when they come to see me in Avi!






Anyway, I'm off to run some errands. Tonight, Claire is taking me to go meet the landlords of the apartment. Woo. Have a great dayyyyyy! Happy Hump Day, all!

Back in the Action

Alrighty, here I am. Back again, only this time blogging to you from Avignon, France in Provence.

I'm having a problem getting Mr. Garmin 305 to upload to the website--it gets to a certain stage in the uploading process and then freezes every time. I emailed Garmin about it and we'll see what they say. I REALLY want to see the map from yesterday's run! (Update: Got it to upload, but the map is mysteriously missing... See splits below). It was the longest I've done in a very long time (8 miles) and it was all around the island next to Avignon called Ile de la Barthelasse. My roommate, Claire, went with me the whole way on her bike and directed our run, which was really helpful since I didn't know where I was, and fun because I had someone to keep me company. I'll upload the map and such as soon as I get Mr. Garmin's problem sorted out. Have any of you with the 305 had something similar happen? I'm going to keep the GPS in miles while I'm here, since I don't really have a good grasp on kilometers.




It really took 1:42:ish to do the 8 miles, the last 15 minute or so was walking back to the apartment with Claire, who's bike ran over a piece of glass and went flat. I should have started out at a slower pace obviously, but I'm still pleased at how it went overall.

Speaking of not being used to European units of measure, yesterday Claire and I went to Ikea and bought a scale (in addition to bedding for my room and a super cool picture frame thing for my photos of the fam, Jon, and Sahara). At 5 euros, here's our new acquisition:



I haven't weighed myself since the last hiatus post, so I was pretty curious to see what I was at now, after 10 days in the country of food. The scale clocked me in at 74.5 kilos, which, thanks to Google, translates to (drumroll please) 164.24 pounds, making me .24 from my mini-goal and 5.6lbs from my last weigh-in. I'm not going to lie, I'm having a bit of trouble believing it's true, but I guess we'll see next time I weigh myself in? Regardless, I'm really glad I decided to go ahead and pack my 30-pound earrings. In case you'd forgotten, I'd bought them a year ago anticipating that I'd wear them in a week or two and they have been hanging out on my refrigerator or in my jewelry box ever since.

I really think walking has been very beneficial. I take the bus to my schools, but other than that (and the occasional car rides with my roomie), I walk everywhere. Thankfully, for winter's sake, the bus stop is RIGHT in front of my apartment, but I'll still be getting in a lot of walking.

Other than that, here are a few photos to give you an idea of what I've been doing. From here on out, I hope to get back into blogging pretty regularly, so stay tuned! I'll try and catch up on all of your blogs in the next few days, I've missed you guys!

Sunrise from the balcony of my apartment in Avignon on my first day. Even in France, God is an Auburn fan. :)
Cooking dinner at the apartment with two other assistants: On the menu pasta with turkey, green beans and a goat cheese sauce

My cousin Michel took me to visit the cities I'll be working in. In one of them, they were having an American day! I couldn't find Ohio, but I did find Alabama!
What American Day would be complete without kids dressed as cowboys on donkeys...
...Motorcycles...
...and native americans?
A view of the Provençal countryside from the car
Inside Avignon's Papal Palace
A view of Avignon through the interesting glass in the palace
The Mediterranean from the house of the US Consulate General in Marseille (she invited all of the American assistants over for dinner)
Me, from the Consul's terrasse
Sunset in Marseille over the Mediterranean
Random street performers in Marseille
Raclette! A French dish usually served in winter, where you cook the cheese and slices of meat on that machine and then put them over a baked potato. YUM
First view of Gadagne, one of my towns

An American evening in France: Bowling
and American diner with burgers


Then, a french night with froglegs!

Okay, that a was ton of photos, but at least now you're all caught up! More later! Wish me luck for my first day of teaching tomorrow! Subject: American Halloween, a holiday that's not really celebrated in France.

Oh and last thing, WAR EAGLE! I can't believe that Bama got beat by South Carolina! Go Gamecocks!