Who ever said routine was a good thing?

I've definitely settled into my new apartment and my new life in Saint Etienne. I've been to my school in Rive de Gier a few times, but am still awaiting the ever elusive timetable. Basically I haven't been to Rive de Gier since Tuesday. Wednesday are half days of school, so I didn't have to go. And Thursday was my orientation with all of the other English assistants in the Saint Etienne area. And Friday I simply didn't have to go. So here we are, it's Saturday evening and I still don't know exactly when I'll be going back to do my 'job'. I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday. No matter what, that gives me at least one more day of lounging around St E drinking coffee, running errands, and living the good life.


However, as tomorrow is Sunday, life in Saint Etienne comes to a screeching halt. Virtually the only thing open on Sundays are markets, cinemas, and a handful of restaurants. It's like a ghost town! Everyone seems to retreat to the 'campagne' to eat ridiculously long and leisurely meals with their families. As for me, I'd love to have another Sunday like last!


Let me explain: Last Sunday a friend, Corinne, and I decided to find a market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and even nail polish remover from local farmers. The only problem was that Saturday night was spent drinking (too much?) French wine with some German assistants, so we almost missed the market.

Me (with Katharina, one of the German assistants) preparing the salad for dinner!

That being said, we did get everything we needed to make homemade soup! And when I say homemade soup, I mean even the broth was homemade! After an interesting conversation with a farmer about how exactly to go about making a soup (un potage?), we had a bag full of vegetables, spices, and other delights, and we were determined! This determination inevitably led us to a cafe halfway between my apartment and the market where we spent quite some time drinking coffee to motivate ourselves for what was ahead. Once we arrived back at my apartment we were pleased to find a hand blender to use to puree the soup, just like the French do! So after about an hour and a half of chopping, sauteeing, and simmering, voila! La soupe!!! It was pretty darn good for our first time, and wonderful on a cold Sunday night!
The next couple of days were spent at Lycee Georges Brassens in Rive de Gier. To get to this school, it takes me over an hour including a tram ride, a train ride, and a climb up a seriously steep hill. Needless to say, once I'm there I don't leave until I'm completely done for the day. Because of this, I spent some long hours there over those two days answering questions about Milwaukee, celebrities, my family and friends, and Barack Obama. One kid told me that he liked Marilyn Manson and then five minutes later was the first to raise his hand when I asked who liked Desperate Housewives. The teachers say he's 'finding himself.'

Wednesday was another adventure! It was an awful rainy day, and I had nothing planned, so Corinne and I decided there was no better way to spent such an ugly day than inside Saint Etienne's very own Ikea, which is apparently one of the biggest in all of Europe! Apparently my American sensibility led me to believe that the bus would drop us off directly in front of the store so we wouldn't have to brave the elements. I was very, very wrong. The bus dropped us off with Ikea nowhere in sight, and we trudged around in the rain asking every person we saw how to find Ikea. After about a half hour in the rain, we finally arrived, soaked, freezing, and quite cranky. We dried off walking around the model bedrooms and kitchens and testing out the comfy couches. I found the most perfect, girly bedroom I've ever seen. I wonder if Ikea will ship entire rooms (and the attached bathroom, in fact) to the US... After all of this effort we had un petit creux and decided to get some coffee and a snack. The one euro coffee was amazing and 'à volonté' which may or may not have meant free refills. 2 espressos and 1 hot chocolate later, I was ready for all Ikea had to offer! Corinne lives in a basic white box kind of like a dorm room so she needed to get a lot of things to decorate, which is right up my alley! All of my time watching HGTV finally paid off and she let me help her decorate!!! My purchases included a sprig of cotton, a vase to put it in, some tupperware containers, a flower pot, and a cactus. All for under 10 euro and all to carry in the (now pouring) rain at dusk. Needless to say we felt a little 'mal a l'aise' and decided to take a taxi. After two brushes with death and a tram ride afterward, I finally made it home from my Ikeadventure, with my (still dry) purchases in tow!


Thursday was orientation which was beyond strange. I still have no idea why, but some possibly important European Union people that we were supposed to be impressed by came in and talked to us about ??? and then we were all invited to sample food from all around Europe. The spread was ridiculous and included mini versions of paella, tiramisu, beet root something, greek grape leaves, etc. as well as beer and wine (which is always important at noon at a high school), and a variety of French cheeses, breads, and meats. Absolutely insane, but fun to get to taste a bunch of different things!! Much later that night we ate at a 'Mexican' restaurant where 'tapas' included wings and onion rings, a taco salad included ham, and many things included zucchini. ALSO, the margaritas only came blended. It was apparently impossible to orden one on the rocks, which still stumps me because where I come from all margaritas start that way before heading to the trusty blender. Not your typical night at Jaliscos, that's for sure.


Yesterday was a day of catching up and booking my trip to Italy for Toussaint in two and a half weeks! Amanda will be coming from Milwaukee and we'll be going to Venice and probably Florence! I can't wait!

Today was one of the most beautiful days since I've been in Saint Etienne, sunny and warm. Though I feel like I spent most of the day indoors, it still was great to have such nice weather.

Wow, long update.


The week ahead brings more fun (and with any luck, very little work), hopefully including the cinema, and maybe including making something else from scratch with items purchased at tomorrow's marche!


Hope all is well with everyone who has been reading this blog! XO