Forêt

The forests here are so beautiful and go on and on. You could easily get lost inside for days. We went on an adventure in the forest one day to find "the sand". There is an area that opens up into a sea of white sand, right in the middle of the forest. The rock formations are amazing, it reminded me a little bit of Goblin Valley. It is well known for rock climbing. We were fortunate the day we went we had the place to ourselves.

The kids had a great time running and creating sand castles in this delicious sand.

Today I met a leprechaun

September 25, 2007

I have been looking for some different places to take some French classes. I had been told about the FLC by my daughters teacher. I made a phone call and they told me to come by that evening between 6 and 8. When I arrived I thought it would be like all classes that you register for, tables with sign up sheets and people to tell you what class you would need. I saw none of this. There was a small office just when I walked in and so I asked the woman about the class and she directed me upstairs 2 floors. When I reached the second floor there was a very small room with 5 people huddled around a little table. One woman saw me and told me she was the one I talked to on the phone. They told me to sit down and one of the women, who they had designated as the English speaker, looked right at me with a stern look and said, "What is your intention?" I told them I was just interested in their French class. They told me that this was an exchange program therefore the class would be free, but what did I have to offer? I told them at home I cooked a lot, but here it was a different story, the man sitting next to me dressed from head to toe in bright green said, "You could offer Irish cooking" I tried not to laugh out loud. I asked them if they had an Irish cooking class.

Before I left I had been invited to their dinner group which meets every three months, the next one on October 9. The youngest one in the room besides me was probably 65. Of course I have to go and find out what this is all about. Maybe I can take my camera and get a photo of my new friends.

Rentre au l'ecole (return to school)

The kids in front of the house on the first day of School.

Well, our first day of school in France started off with a bang. I got up before the kids and made crepes and chocolate milk for something exciting on this big day. When we woke the kids and they came down for le petit dejener, Logan said he was so thirsty and so I gave him a cup of chocolate milk and he gulped it down. Everyone started to eat and Sophie and Logan started complaining of a stomach ache. The two of them had not been feeling well the last few days, but I was not sure if it was nerves or if they were still sick. Sophie ate her crepe, but Logan did not eat any of his. When everyone started getting dressed, there were tears from Sophie, her stomach hurt and she did not want to go to school.

Logan’s stomach hurt as well. I was trying to be positive and help them along and so Logan was getting dressed and all of a sudden there was a loud cry MOM, I went running into his room and his face was bright red and he was holding his hand by his heart. I thought he was having a pain in his chest, then I noticed the brown throw up all over his new shirt that was laid out on the bed and on the cream colored carpet in the room. "Okay, let’s go into the bathroom" so on the way into the bathroom he has to do it again, but Sophie who still has a stomach ache is laying on the the floor in front of the bathroom and Logan lets go right on top of Sophie. Sophie starts to cry “He threw up on me, and I want to wear this dress to school.” Needless to say we had to put her in the tub, Logan in the shower and find new clothes for the day.

Sophie is sad in her second dress of the morning after Logan's launch.

We walked over to the school, which is about a block away and dropped Sophie off first. Sophie goes to a different school, but on the same campus. They keep the gate locked until 8:20 and then they ring a buzzer indicating you can come in. You take them inside, put on their "school shoes" (slippers) and give your hugs and get out of there before 8:30 because they lock the gate again.

Sophie did pretty well on her first day, she was a little sad but didn't really know what she was in for. Her teacher only speaks a few words of English, but there is a little girl in her class that doesn't speak any French and does speak English so they can help each other out.

When we dropped the other kids off, every parent in the town was there dropping their child off as well, it was crazy. Because we don't know how it works, or couldn't read the lists we were the last ones out on the grounds. I found a woman who looked like she could help us and she was the Head Master of the school. She knew my name, because I am sure she had heard about the crazy American with 5 children who don't speak French. She helped us find their classes. Dallas has a male teacher who is very tall and does not speak English. Logan's teacher is a woman and knows a few words in English, but Jesse's teacher is the Head Master and she knows quite a bit of English. She was kind and introduced Jesse to the class and told the students Jesse was from the United States and did not know French and so they needed to help her learn. She keeps telling Jesse, "I will help you learn French, if you help me learn English". She invited me to come to class when I can, to learn right along with Jesse.

I have done this once and got a real dose of the kids' day.

The kids take their backpacks in the room with them and have hooks on their desks to hang them on, but your jacket stays in the hall on the hook.

The school is very small and very old!

School starts at 8:30 and then they break for lunch at 11:30 until 1:30. You can decide if you want them to stay at the cantine or they can come home. You have to choose at the beginning of the month the days that they will stay and pay up front. It is 3 euro 60 cents per child per day. It is all catered, there is not a lunch room at the school. They serve lunch in courses and Dallas said, "It's kind of like a nice restaurant." This month they have eaten at school on Monday and Thursday and most of the time they have really liked the food. They have had chicken cordon bleu, some sort of beef dish, they can have all the bread they can eat.

The days they come home I go and pick them up and we just have to be back in two hours. They like coming home, it gives them a nice break in their long day.

After the first week in school I asked Logan if he understood anything the teacher said. His reply, "No." "Did you understand anything your friends said?" "No. I don't have any friends." He really just doesn't have any friends he can speak to easily. All of the French kids try out their English phrases on the kids at lunch such as, "I love you, baby." "Shut up."" What time is it?" "What is your name?", etc. At first the kids felt like they were pretty popular, now it has just become annoying to them.