January 10, 2014

Today I visited the school where my host mom, Clarisse works with elementary students. They are learning French along with English now and when they advance to high school level they can choose to either learn Spanish, or German. The children were lovely, but it was often difficult for me to understand them because they spoke so fast in French. I did get asked similar questions from my last visit to a French elementary school. "How do you like your hamburgers? Do you eat them everyday?" When the children gave me hugs at the end of the day, it meant a lot to me. People don't just give hugs in France. They have to really like you because proxemics here are different. Hugs are a big deal for me when I receive them here.

I also had a delicious meal with the teachers at the school because it was one of their birthdays. The meal consisted of champagne, le poulet, du pain avec du fromage, et la galette des rois (King's Cake). I got to celebrate Epiphany! I enjoyed helping the kids with their English and French. On the way home with Clarisse, I saw an exquisite Byzantine style church. The architecture here is truly incredible!