Day 67: Bon anniversaire! / Happy birthday!

My Actual Schedule Today

• Classes 9:30-11am, 11:30-1:45, 2-3:30, 4:30-6pm
• Chorale 6-8:30pm
• Birthday celebration 8:30pm-midnight

Highlights from each of the above bullet points

• Class: For history, we watched a movie called Le Bataille d'Alger, the Battle of Algers, about Algeria's fight for independence from France. It was produced by a man who had lived in Algeria and fought on behalf of the resistance movement (FLN?) along with an Italian producer.
• General statement about classes: More and more people have started bringing their ocmputers to class and not using them to take notes, or taking notes typing really loudly (pecking style). It is really distracting to me. I have to figure out a way to ignore it or make it stop.
  
• Chorale: Our rehearsal today was basically a run through of the concert we will be having in 2 weeks. I told the director that I won't be able to make it to that concert. It's frustrating and upsetting that I can't participate, but at the same time, I am still enjoying my time in the chorale. People are just starting to warm up to me - I get kisses now for greetings. I am no longer the lonely foreign student.
• Birthday celebration; -arrived home after chorale, they were still on the aperatifs and opening presents -2 kiss greetings happen in Paris and 3 kiss greetings happen in Avignon as I re-remembered when greeting Gabi, Claudie's daughter who lives in Paris. Gabi speaks English (I think very well -I am so surprised at the excellent speaking abilities and random vocabulary that the French people know in English. For example: fossilized.) -Claudie mentioned that she thinks my french has greatly improved since I have arrived. This made me really happy!! :-) -For dinner was whole crawfish/large shrimp, and indian chicken. Claudie was very upset because she had left the chicken cooking/boiling to long so it had broken off the bone/wasn't as presentable as she wanted it to be. She really takes pride in her cooking. -Gabi kept switching between French and English. In addition, she can also converse in Spanish. -After dinner, we talked about traveling, the importance of getting to know the people and customs, not just sightseeing and having leisure time. Truly exploring and experiencing the daily life of the people in the place you are visiting. I thought this was interesting because I totally agree. Gabi and Claudie both agreed but her mother just likes to know a few people very well and when she travels she likes to get the ambiance of the place she is visiting, but doesn't even notice/ignores the people.
  

Bisous.
Ciao!