Poitiers

I took a quick jaunt down to Poitiers this weekend to see my pals and former colleagues Jeanette and Elaine, from Canada and Ireland respectively. Jeanette is still teaching at the university and Elaine now lives near Nantes. The weather was AMAZING, and we enjoyed the lazy day together catching up.

I also went for a coffee with Christele, the professor with whom I taught interpretation; the experience reconfirmed my suspicions that Christele is a spot-on replacement for "Debbie Downer" on SNL. (You know, the character that always brings down a conversation by mentioning a depressing topic). It was a lark.

The highlight of the day (besides the bone-cracking back massage Jeanette gave me) was dinner with the girls at our favorite French resto Les Bons Enfants (The good children). Kitchy décor and creepy photos of children abound in this hole in the wall restaurant where you can feast on a shockingly reasonably priced 4 course meal. We knew better than to plan anything after the 3 1/2 hour event besides rolling back to Jeanette's place to put on sweat pants. It was glorious!

I caught the Sunday train back to Paris and the reality of my mounting pile of homework. I'm really enjoying my classes and even my collective project seems like it will be a good experience. The "projet collectif" is mandatory for all master's students. There are all kinds of projects going on that are organized by students. I applied for one that involves running Model UN simulations for junior high and high school students. We take care of every aspect of the program from finding sponsors to writing position papers to organizing partnerships with schools where we run the simulations.

In the midst of my back to reality shock Sunday evening, Christine knocked on my door with a dinner tray. I had homemade organic vegetable soup and homemade apple compote (sort of like apple sauce). I also had some bread since I'm not on a liquid diet. :) I may never figure out her bourgeois ways, but there are many a day when I am thankful for Christine.