Days 18 & 19

So, I'm doing a combo-post, but it's been a long weekend, & I wanted a break!

Saturday I attended a program at the American Church called "Bloom Where You're Planted." This program, hosted by the Women of the American Church, celebrated it's 40th year with this
workshop, and I'm really glad I went. I think I was the youngest one attending (apart from the children), but I still got a lot out of the program. In the morning, there were several guest speakers that the entire group attended, and then there were several breakout groups after lunch. One of the morning guest speakers talked about the difference of communication styles between the French & Americans, and I was actually intrigued, because she was talking about theories & information that I've studied in the classroom. I actually got a little excited about it, which took me by surprise.

Lunch for the group was a quiche with broccoli, tomatoes, & cheese, served with a side salad of quinoa, tomatoes & spinach. During lunch, I wound up sitting across from a couple from New York (city). The wife was taking a sabbatical while she was here, and her husband (from the Netherlands) works for Unilever, and is in charge of the Lipton tea branch of the company. Now, normally this would be boring, but my family uses Lipton whenever we make sweet tea, so I was actually intrigued when he was talking about his job, because how often do you meet someone in charge of something you drink on a daily basis?

The breakout groups were great, and I learned about: how to survive in Paris on a budget, how the French interact socially, and how to survive a Parisian grocery store/open market. That doesn't sound like much, but I really took a lot of notes, and am glad I chose the ones I did!

The last event of the program was a guided wine tasting, which I found quite interesting, & I feel like I actually know a tiny, minuscule amount about how to figure out if a wine is good or not. The guy leading the workshop owns a wine shop just outside of the Paris city limits had a good saying about wine tasting: he said that it's a real sport; you get better with practice. How very French, but also, how very true. Sadly, I had to leave before his demonstration was over, but I still have all the paperwork, so I'm definitely going to look over it.

I had to come back to the apartment to babysit with the Canadian because the mother & her sister were going to a party, and the sister's kids were here as well. After the kids had eaten, they watched a movie on a laptop while the Canadian & I finally ate dinner. The father came back from working on a wedding, ate a quick dinner, and then left to go & meet up with his wife & sister-in-law. It was a pretty calm evening once the kids were asleep, and I went to bed b/c I knew I was going to go to church today.

I had breakfast with the family this morning, which included (for me) cereal, an English muffin w/ strawberry jam, & hot tea. I made it to church on time, and enjoyed the World Communion Sunday service. I did get a little teary-eyed, this being the first time I've really done communion on my own (normally, I'm with friends or family), but I knew that my family would be celebrating in the same way, so my sad moment was short-lived.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in Paris, and the weather was wonderful...it felt like springtime! The sun was out, the sky was blue, and I think it got up to 75 today, which felt wonderful, given the cold/rainy/cloudy weather recently. After church was over, I wandered around a bit, and played tourist, taking photos while the sunlight was favorable.

After I did enough damage to my camera's memory card, I returned to the apartment, had a quick lunch (pasta w/pesto & olives, bread & goat cheese w/ honey), grabbed my Sherlock Holmes, and went to go read in Luxembourg Gardens for a few hours, before the weather could make its inevitable turn.

I returned, did some laundry, read for a bit, then hung my laundry up to dry in my bathroom (I already know I'm going to miss my clothes dryer, but maybe it won't be too bad). Dinner with the family tonight was soup & a savory clafoutis (Google it) with what I've determined to be the French equivalent of lima beans. It was very good, although the mother had doubts about how it would turn out, as it was her first time making it. Dessert was a fruit yogurt, and then I headed to my room to write, read, knit, & relax.

I start my French language courses tomorrow!