I love my job!!!

So the past couple of days have been amazing. Nothing really great has happened, but I have come to feel that I am at home. . . i mean, yes things are still stressful at times, and the language drives me nuts, but I love being here. Not that I don't miss the comforts of the U.S. but I will make it for my term here. I've actually found a couple of things that I will miss. Yesterday it was a whopping 49 degrees and I was able to lay out in the sun and study. I know many of you southerns are like, "49 degrees!!!" I know before coming here I would have never stepped foot outside in that kind of weather, much less in shorts and t-shirt. But it was great to feel the warmth of the sun. And my study time just flew by!! I can't wait until my language is fluent enough to share with someone.

Can you guess what is in the picture?? These are my train tickets to Nimes, France. I had to come up with a language project for this month and decided to buy tickets to a french city. And yes I had to pay for them, but it was only 12 euros. Transportation is so cheap here. All of this had to be done in french. It was the greatest conversation ever. It went so well that at one point I stopped and thought "Is she speaking to me in French or English, because I understand every word?" It has encouraged me to continue to study and learn more. The volunteers will be relieved to know that even though I am not fluent, I can buy their tickets home for them, if need be:) Rest assured you will be taken care of!!!

Problems in the kitchen . . . again

This past weekend my roommates went out of town. I was left to enjoy the weekend as an introvert. It is what happens to an extrovert when everyone leaves. On Sunday I realized that I hadn't cleaned at all so I got busy and cleaned the entire apartment. After cleaning, I got hungry so I went into the kitchen to make dinner. I decided to make Terriyaki Chicken and rice. I had just taken the very very hot glass container out of the oven and not thinking set it down on the stainless steel counter (our sink is stainless steel). Well you guessed it; it was the last time I ever used that container again. Glass shot off in every direction. You couldn't even tell that it used to be a container. I've included a picture. Those that know me should begin to pray for the safety of my future husband. . . with me in the kitchen, he better have really good insurance. :)

Sweet tea . . . The avec du sucre (translated tea w/ sugar)

Okay so today in class my professeur asked each of us about a particular meal that is from our country. I want you to take a minute and think about the states and what meal is american. . . hot dog, hamburger . . . yeah so everyone else in the room had these wonderful sounding meals with detailed ingredients and when he got to me, I was like un hamburger. They are familiar with them. But I gave it a little more thought and came up with Bar-be-que. This took some explaining. They are a little familiar with it, but they definitely have never heard of Sonny's. So I told them that bar-be-que is big in the south and he asked what we have with it, so I went down the Sonny's menu. Then he asked what we would have to drink with it. And I responded "Du the avec du sucre" (translated tea with sugar). They have never heard of this before. One Russian proceeded to tell me that we dont' drink sweet tea with bar-be-que but that we have beer. He said he saw a celebrity in his mansion (on crib) eating bar-be-que and he had a beer. Then the teacher kindly interrupted and said "remember she has told us not to believe everything we see on t.v." They believe that everything they see on T.V. is reality. I try to convince them that it isn't. Anyway, I told them "I'm sure some people drink beer with it, but my family doesn't". They know about hot tea but I wasn't sure they knew about cold tea. And when I said that the tea is cold and we add sugar to it they freaked out and said "you will get sick if you drink that." I assured them that you wouldn't and attempted to explain the process in making sweet tea. I talked about making sun tea and reassured them that the sugar is added after the process (one Russian was worried that sugar in the sun makes alcohol). It was very humorous to see their reaction to the whole tea issue. You may rest now in knowning that my class is more educated on sweet tea!!!

I need fire insurance!!!

So, I've come to the conclusion that when I move back to the states I desperately need fire insurance. I have had a few issues with our stove (we have a gas stove). It is great in that the stove cooks really fast, but if you aren't used to it, it can back fire. Like today for example, I came home and began preparing my lunch. I put on a pot of broccoli and went to check my e-mail. I checked on it often and just when I decided it was done, I began to notice that it smelled like someone had burnt something. Well there have been many times when we can smell things coming from other kitchens in the apartment building. It is this fun game we play called "Can you guess what they are having for diner?" If you ever come, we'll be sure and play it:) So the smell didn't really concern me. But I decided to lift the steamer out of the pot and I discovered that the burning smell was coming from my kitchen. The pot (that used to be white on the bottom) was now black and I mean black. Just then the smell escaped into the living room. I walked out and announced that I had decided to buy a new pot. My roommates looked at me oddly and asked what the smell was. I replied "it is the reason I'm buying a new pot." miraculously the pot came clean.

A reality check

So today was a very traumatic day for me. I was leaving school and as I crossed the side street I saw a lady who was lying in the road. She had been hit by a car and the paramedic had just arrived. I can't even begin to describe how sad and gut wrenching it was. I cross that street everyday (it does not have a walk signal) and there are many days I don't even think to look to see if cars are coming. The streets are different here. Some are really small and would make you think that they are alleys that aren't used when in fact they are very busy roads. And because buildings are built right up to the street they block the few of traffic. Anyway it was definitely a reality check. Ask for safety on behalf of those working overseas.