Weekend of friends!!!

Well, I just had one of the most fun girls weekends in France! Friday night, Katherine, Caitlin, Kelsey, and I went out to dinner. We tried Adonis, a Lebanese place that PA recommended to me. You order a menu, so we got the mid-price one with seven cold dishes and seven warm dishes for 14 euros a person--so good! There was hummus, stuffed grape leaves, chicken wings, beef and chicken skewers, falafel, shrimp, and so much else to try. We also had a nice aperatif kir and chatted for a long time.

Afterwards, Katherine, Caitlin and I hung out at my place until K's bus at 11. It was like a slumber party with gossip and music and silliness. Very fun! Then, Caitlin and I watched Les femmes de l'ombre (Women of the Shadow) about women spies during World War II. It was kind of intense so we had to watch some funny stuff before going to bed.

We three had planned to meet up for the Satuday market at 11, but poor sleepy Caitlin was a little slow getting out of bed. Instead, in my apartment we had coffee, chatted and people watched from my window. We eventually decided to grab sandwiches and go to a movie, Sofia Coppola's Somewhere that was playing in English with French subtitles. A bit too slow and artsy for me, but it was nice to get out and just see a movie to do something different!

More exciting was the shop we stopped in on the walk back... We bought gorgeous little cakes! We had a bit more time of pretending my apartment was a cafe, perhaps Café Laurène on Place Sainte Anne ;)

Little cakes... YUM!

Hanging out at Cafe Laurène! ;)

But after the friends and fun are gone for the night... things get really quiet in my apartment. I get back to reflection on how my time is being spent here.


Sometimes it feels like my life has gone stagnant here--in a foreign country where daily life is not at all the same as being at home or at school, it is hard to see the big picture. How exactly does a year teaching English to kids in France help me in any of my long-term plans? I just try to remember that not everything in life has to be relevant to ultimate goals and that you have to put in time to get general life and language skills (though it may be slow and frustrating).

Though the professors at the school often say the kids like my lessons, I just don't feel very fulfilled by or interested in the work I do here. Many of the assistants I know have discovered a love for teaching in this program, while I have learned that I do not want to work with anyone under the age of 18 ever again. I guess that is something worth finding out before I tried to get a Masters of teaching or something...


I think I'm just not used to so much alone time now--home, school, dorms, roommates, lots of people have always just been around. Here, if I don't really make an effort, I can spend a whole day not talking to anyone else. I may be going insane in my isolation chamber! Or at least over-analyzing too much...

I can't wait to see my family and my home again!