Lyon - December 17, 2004

When I first arrived in France, I felt like I never knew anything that was going on. I'd learn things like 'the children are adopted from Russia' or 'Roxanna's going to be staying with us for the next year, not just a weekend' and I'd feel like my French was so abysmal for not having picked up on these details earlier. My French is still not wonderful, but I've learned enough at this point to realize that the bigger barrier to knowing what's going on is that people really aren't telling me what's going on. The kids usually go to bed at 8 PM sharp. Last Friday I got back around 9, and I assumed that everyone must be in bed. A little after 11 I was starting to get ready for bed when I heard the kids' voices down below, and Annick and Roxanna talking loudly. I went downstairs - it was obvious that SOMETHING had happened.

So, naturally, I asked Roxanna "What happened?"
"Ca va, ça va." (It's fine, it's fine).
To Annick: "What happened?"
"Ca va, ça va."
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....
I went out into the garage. The back window of their car was broken, and there was glass all over the floor.
Back to Roxanna: "What happened?"
"No, no, ça va, c'est bon, c'est bon."
To Annick: "Was there a car accident?"
"Un peu." (a little bit).

And that's all I was able to get out of them.

From what Lulu (the only person willing to answer my questions) told me, my best guess is that they were returning late from visiting Annick's parents. Touim was creating the usual distractions in the car, and something else happened outside to distract her (I'm not sure what). She ended out backing into the garage too quickly, and the back window hit a shelf sticking out from the back wall. I don't know. That's my theory. Sigh... Anyway, at least now I feel better about breaking their glasses. ("Ha! When you break glass, you really go all out, don't you!")

The reason I got back at 9, by the way, was that most of the California students had decided to go out to one last, nice, meal before the end of the quarter. The place we went was kind of interesting. There were rabbits in cages out front (which made me a little bit nervous about the meat to begin with), the air was filled with smoke from the barbeque, and all the waiters were wearing blue overalls. I'd thought at first it was supposed to be an American themed place, but all the food was genuine French-Swiss. Of the 14 or 15 people in our group, 9 ordered one of two dishes: the chicken in cream sauce (which I got), or the tartiflette (potatoes with bacon and cheese). Another two split a raclette. When the first enormous pot of tartiflette was set down in front of Evan, he stared at it: "Guys, there is no way I can eat all of this." Fortunately, that was actually all 5 orders of the stuff, so he didn't have to. There was even enough left over for me to take a good-sized serving. It was all, by far, the best food I've had in Lyon. I still think Lyon's claim to be the "gastronomical capital of the world" is pure fiction, but I had to raise my estimation of their cuisine a bit from that meal.

We had another "goodbye meal" - a potluck - on Monday, with all of the students and teachers, and the parents who could make it (mine couldn't). The food wasn't as good as at the restaurant, but there were still some decent dishes, and it was fun. Then, today, for lunch, we went to a café nearby, and said our goodbyes (we'd finished our final exam that morning). Some of the girls exchanged gifts: scented hand soap, body lotion, facial sponges, and lip balm. (Shakes head in disbelief). It was sad saying goodbye to everyone. Tree already left on Wednesday, because she's just learned her Mom's in the hospital, and her aunt won't tell her why, "because she doesn't want to worry her" - a phrase guaranteed to lift all worry from her mind, of course. Allegra's going back today, rather than Sunday as she'd planned, because her grandpa died and his funeral's this weekend. She seemed more upset about missing her weekend in Paris than her grandpa - apparently she hasn't seen him in years. The rest of the class, who haven't been struck by family disasters, are trailing out this weekend, Monday, and Tuesday.

I got my hair cut last week. I'd been putting off doing it before, because I'd seen signs for haircuts for €50, and I know that that's about what some girls in my class paid. I'd been hoping to put it off until going home - but I found out that most places are actually fairly reasonable. The place I went was slightly more expensive than in the U.S, but it included a shampoo/hair massage, which was very relaxing. They offered me coffee or tea during my hair cut, too (which I declined) and let me interview one of them for my project. And they had candy. However, like everyone else who's gotten a haircut in France, my hair's a bit shorter than expected. Juliana said it looked like I'd joined the army.

I've almost finished the French book I'm reading, and I didn't want to start the (English) one I was saving for the flight, so I took a book from the collection left by departing Californian students. The selection there is mostly limited to books I've already read, romance novels, or airport books, but I finally found one of those that looked interesting: "Deception Point," by Dan Brown (of "Da Vinci Code" fame). I think I can now say, fairly conclusively, that it is the stupidest book ever printed. "Gosh - despite being chased by deadly Delta Force assassins with state-of-the-art weaponry, you, the hero, for some reason feel it necessary to pause and explain at great length to the heroine (who happens to be afraid of water) the awesome olfactory abilities of the ferocious, man-eating hammerhead sharks swarming in the water below (even going so far as to drop a headless fish overboard to observe the feeding frenzy that results), then pause again to explain the catastrophic explosive potential of the active volcano directly beneath the ship... who would ever have guessed that just minutes later said volcano would be erupting, and the terrifying sharks would have torn apart three people? It sure is a good thing for you that that Coast Guard helicopter happened to fly by at the exact moment it did!" Idiotic. I feel dumber just having read it. I expect the movie is already in the works.

I'm leaving for Paris Monday morning at the crack of dawn, then from there to Los Angeles, and on to Portland. I expect it will be a long day. I feel bad asking my host mom to drive me to the airport, since it's so early in the morning, so I think I'm just going to make hints and look pitiful (puppy dog eyes!) and hope she volunteers. If not, I'll have to walk to the bus stop, since the trams don't run that early. Maybe I'll just stay up all night, to save me the trouble of going to bed. Actually, I may have no choice, if I can't find an alarm clock - I'd just been using the sun and the kids coming down the stairs as alarm clocks, for the rest of the quarter. Anyway, I'll probably check my e-mail for the last time Sunday afternoon. Hopefully this flight will go as well as the one to France did. I'll let you know, when I get back. If I get back. (Crosses fingers).

Au revoir