On Thursday I went over to Sandra's to get to know Lawrence. At first he was really shy and flat out refused to speak English, and would only nod in affirmation to questions that I asked him, and I am only supposed to speak English with him. Then, his mom left us alone to play. I was riding around the living room on on of those horse head on a stick things when he announced, "In Wall-E, Eve finds the plant and goes like this!" and did an imitation of the robot from one of my favorite movies. After that he was an anglophone chatterbox. He is absolutely adorable. He has chubby, rosy cheeks and huge bright blue eyes. He showed me every toy in his arsenal, including an introduction to each stuffed animal complete with rubbing them on my cheek to show me how soft they were. We played football (soccer for you Americans...I must admit the name is a lot more accurate for a game you play with your feet, not your hands), and built planes with Legos. They were apparently were fire fighting planes because we spent a lot of time putting out fires with it. :)
I had dinner with him (pasta with tomatoes and parmesan). He mimics everything I say and even the noise I make unconsciously when I'm enjoying what I eat...haha. His Dad even said that we seemed to get along well. The shower is done, they just want to have it cleaned before I move in, which is OFFICIALLY MONDAY.
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Friday I got up and took a train for 30 minutes to the train station in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, and then a 20 minute bus ride from there. The bus didn't call out the stops, so I asked a kid next to me to tell me where the stop was. He was a student going back to visit his teachers so he took me with him.
The school is big, and about 1000 students attend. It is kind of built like a maze so I hope that I don't get lost. I was taken up to a very fashionable secretary, then the principal who took me to the teacher's room. It is huge, with desks everywhere for them to grade papers. I can't figure out exactly what their teaching schedules are because a lot of them were in there most of the day. No one speaks English besides the English teachers and they will only speak French with me because they want me to improve. The first one I met was Fred, a fabulously flamboyant Frenchmen who took me by the elbow and introduced me to everyone. They were all really nice and welcoming. The best part was the lunch. You swipe your i.d. card and then a machine dispenses a tray. Lunch started with an appetizer (for lack of a better word) a goat cheese tartlet or roasted eggplant. Then there were entrees of meat tortellini, fish and roasted veggies, or with mushroom risotto. I had the fish and mushroom risotto to avoid offending anyone. I figured it can't hurt to get extra protein in a land of simple carbs, the quality is a lot better in France. It was DELICIOUS. Then there was fruit or yogurt (which everyone eats for dessert), and then an actual dessert of chocolate or caramel pudding, custard topped with apricot, or baked fruit with whipped cream on top. I asked Odile (who turned out to be a woman and fellow English teacher) about it, and she said that not all schools in France have food this good. They must have a grant or something. I'm excited to eat there on a regular basis. :)
On the way home I sat at the bus stop for about 20 minutes before I realized that the bus doesn't stop at the school between 8:30 and 4:30 for the kids to go to and from school. I walked to a different bus stop and asked TWO people if it went back to the train station, and they both said yes. When I got to the end of the bus route, I realized this was not the case. I asked a little old French man who seemed to know everyone. He said hi to almost everyone on the street and shook hands with the bus drivers. He told me he was going to the train station too, so I could follow him. When we got there he told me three times to go to the opposite platform to get back to Paris to make sure I had it right. When I got to the other side he pointed excitedly at the train when it came. Then, once I got on he grinned ear-to-ear and waved frantically until the train pulled out of the station. Adorable.
Monday I will move into my apartment, Tuesday I go back to my school to observe some classes, and Wednesday we have orientation. Busy week ahead!
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