The Strike Strikes Back!

Let me summarize the last few days for you...

Monday (night): Finally ordered Speed Rabbit Pizza, the place under my apartment! It was really good--tried a barbecue/onion/ground beef/pickles and a chicken/curry/potato/bacon bits. Both yummy!

Tuesday: Went to Vitré in the afternoon to get my haircut with Caitlin! It was 19euros at a walk-in place... I have some funky layers at the moment, but it looks and feels soooooo much better short again! We spluged and bought 16euros worth of fancy chocolates at a shop we passed and spent the evening eating chocolates and these gratin potatos:

Serves 6

Baking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

• 3 pounds (1.5 kg) Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1/2 pound (225 g) Gruyère cheese (either Emmental or Comté –Comté being stronger, or Beaufort if you can find some –it's very expensive in the US)
• 8 oz. (225 g) crème fraîche (french cultured cream), or heavy cream if you can't find crème fraîche
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (20 cL) milk
• salt and black pepper
• butter (just enough to butter the dish –no oil please!)
• 2 garlic cloves

1. Peel the potatoes. Slice them thinly (about 1/8") and place in water to remove excess starch.
2. Butter a deep oven-safe dish. Peel and press the garlic cloves or chop them very finely. Spread at the bottom of the dish.
3. Preheat your oven at 390F (200C).
4. Dry the potato slices in a clean cotton cloth. Place a first layer of potato slices in the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon of crème fraîche. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
5. Add a new layer of potato and proceed as described above. Repeat until all the potatoes are layered. Make sure to keep 1 tablespoon of crème fraîche for later. Finish with cheese.
6. Pour the milk on the potatoes.
7. Bake for 1 hour at 390F.
8. Beat the egg with the remaining crème fraîche and pour this mix on the gratin. Bake for 15 more minutes. 

Wednesday: After some stovetop oatmeal, I took the train back to Rennes to drop off my stuff then headed back to the station at 12:30 to meet Pierre-Antoine for a trip to Paris. His interview was right next to the Eiffel Tower, so we wandered around the park there for a few hours beforehand. The interview itself took only 15 minutes and seemed to go well, but he will not know anything until April!!! After that, we metroed to Opera and my favorite steet in Paris--Rue Sainte-Anne in the Japanese quarter! Had a delicious Oyokodon dinner and metroed back to the Montparnasse Station where there is a STARBUCKS!!! Needless to say, I was content with the day ;)

Thursday: Another STRIKE day! It's about the same things as back in October, but recently, the government said that all retiring professors will not be replaced in order to cut jobs... One prof was saying that next year was going to be all messed up since they won't have enough profs for their current student grouping system. So out of my three classes, I had three students, two, and zero... I bought groceries and then went to the CAF office to sort out why I am not yet getting my housing aid money. I was there almost an hour, and the lady just made yet another photocopy of my salary bulletin (I had already mailed them two). Hopefully, nothing else will be messed up.

I was so happy to have a busy day! I really am not a person who is content doing nothing :/

So now I am enjoying some tea with my new favorite snack of baguette with fig jam and brie cheese. SOOOO DELICIOUS! All of my high-class blog readers should jump on this bandwagon!

Pictures to come when my camera is recharged, lol!

Another French education FAIL

In French high schools, teachers can just cancel class with no warning. I waited with a class for fifteen minutes before someone went to ask if she was even at the school--negative. Then the kids all just left campus, half the class on the same metro as me! Coming from a very competitive US school where no class time is ever wasted or cancelled (except for snow), it blows my mind that there are no substitute teachers and that hours can be chipped away from academic time like this! No one is helped in this system!

I am rather outraged for the children's sake, yes, but I'm also annoyed for myself... I have nothing to do outside of work, but it really is annoying to just be waiting around for people who don't give you any notice that they will be gone. It's just inconsiderate. I have other professors that do notify me!

Life update: Sickness healed. Went to a bar last night to see fellow assistant and Knoxvillian Christopher play blues/folk music on guitar and banjo. It was comforting to hear the music of Tennessee, even if I usually only listen to it at Dollywood. Tried to sleep, but Thursday is the party night of the students and Place Sainte Anne was soooooo loud until 2 or 3am... Then the garbage trucks woke me at 5:30... Ugh.

So far this weekend is pretty empty. Since I lost my phone at Disney, I have very few numbers. There is an assistant from Normandy I'm going to meet up with after work to show her the town. Hopefully, something will pop up. The problem is that I'm poor, with only 11,87euros to my name... My housing aid hasn't come through yet, and the website says my file is being studied at the moment :( Guess I'll be mooching until payday next Friday--or just living off the oatmeal and goldfish crackers Ma sent me.