Une semaine de l’heureuse; or, Best Week Ever

This week had its ups and its downs. Serious downs including the most bizarre doctor’s visit of my life, about which you already read, and the fact that I still can’t withdrawal my pay. Bummer. But despite that, and some other negative things, there was a whole lot of good this week. And so I’d much rather focus on that.

First and foremost, I found the best cereal ever in the supermarket! Whoever came up with the idea of an entire breakfast of chocolate chip cookies is my hero. And, to go with this delish cereal, I found soy milk! Thank god, because I was beginning to think it didn’t exist here before I found it. Phew. Now I don’t even have to think about the whole drink-from-a-cow-thing.

Over the weekend I had a walk with some of my colleagues from the school where I work. It was a lovely walk on a trail through Point L’Eveche, a nearby city to Lisieux. We spoke in French and I understood a lot! Not everything, but through the words I did know and the context, I could figure out the bulk of the conversation. And like everyone else, these friends were great about keeping me engaged.

The night after the walk in Point L’Eveche, I hung out with Cecil and Milena (the other American assistant and the Spanish assistant). I just adore both of them. We had really good, relaxed conversation over a game of Uno and some disco biscuits and pizza crackers. Milena doesn’t speak English, which is great for Cecil and me because it makes it necessary to practice our French instead of falling back into comfy English. And here’s the most awesome thing (I think): when Cecil walked me back home after, we continued to speak in French. For the whole 15 minute walk! It would have been much easier to speak in English, but I think it’s pretty clear that Cecil and I both care about learning the language and practicing as much as we can. And that’s exactly the type of person I want to be around here in France.

The night after Point L’Eveche and hanging with Cecil and Milena, I did not have a headache! Usually, after a day with that much French, I feel entirely drained and need to take two ibuprofens just to be able to sleep. Would it be arrogant to say this shows I am on the way to becoming fluent?

Tapan told me he’s going to download Veronica Mars seasons 2 and 3 for me. This is part of the best week ever for a very serious reason: Veronica Mars rocks! I bought season one with me and planned to watch it over the course of seven months, but it was impossible. The end of each episode is a cliffhanger, OK? Can you really blame me for having to constantly go on to the next? And besides, it was a long, lonely vacances and I had no money to go anywhere, and sometimes it was raining anyway. Considering all that, it’s only mildly frightening that I watched the entire season in two days.

I sent Donna her b-day present and the postage was only 3 euros. Sweet. This means I’ll be able to send many presents to many people.

There were only two good things about the doctor’s appointment. 1. I met all the other English assistants in Caen and they were pretty awesome. 2. I found the clinic entirely by myself. The day before my appointment I had no internet access at all so I couldn’t use google maps to get my directions. I just had an address in my hand. But I somehow managed to get to Caen (the next-door city), find the correct bus line, and find my way to the building. And I only had to ask one person on the street for help. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but anyone who knows Oh Ashley will understand what progress I have made! [As an aside, why is google not recognized by the Microsoft Word dictionary? It is both a noun and a verb.]

I have acclimated to the French keyboards. So much in fact, that I often make typos on my personal QWERTY keyboard.

My lungs are healthy. Check ‘em out!