This is one of the last days of fall. It was unreal how pretty it was that day. This is taken in a small village outside Besançon.
Aaaaaand Mathilde's grandpa. A gem. He doesn't have just one accordion. He doesn't have just two, but THREE accordions. And I had the privilege of hearing him play a very French in a café kind of song. It was just wonderful.
This is Mathilde and her mom and her grandpa. Her mom sent me home with a contraption to purée things like applesauce and mashed potatoes, and some homemade jelly, and a laundry basket full of apples and a box full of walnuts.
And this was the prettiest view of the day. I couldn't get over how beautiful it was.

Now that I've posted these exceedingly pleasant photos, I need you to do me a favor: picture the exact opposite. The weather has rudely changed from a vibrant fall to a purgatory of seasons-- what I like to call the grayny season (gray and rainy wordsmith). I don't know why it changed its mind, but now it is almost constantly raining, drizzling or spitting. And the gray is this pressing, heavy, thick kind of gray. It makes me constantly ask myself, in a whiny voice, "Do I HAVE to go outside today?" My hair is asking the same question.

So I'm working on embracing the grayny season in which I have found myself. And I am also working on smiling double my usual amount to counteract the weather issue. Things here are moving steadily along. I'm becoming more confident in lesson planning and lesson giving. I am also so happy to see the students everyday, because honestly, I never know what to expect. Their spontaneity is refreshing. And invigorating. Isn't Thanksgiving soon? I'm going to make a lesson about it. I want to dress up, but I'm not sure that I could find things to wear. Maybe I could dress as a Native American?

I am still working on the internet/phone debacle. What's a stronger word than debacle? Catastrophe? Hash? Botch? Washout? Ruin? Alas..

But to end on a positive note, I would like to pay tribute to the newest albums of Maria Taylor, Regina Spektor, and the Avett Brothers for being spot on and making me so happy. Also, Becky found out about a PLACE in LURE where you can LISTEN to LIVE MUSIC. Hopefully we'll GO there SOON because THAT would be AWESOME.

Always sopping wet, but with love,

Sam

FALL!!!

Hi, everyone!

I owe you an update, I know. But I was waiting until my life got more exciting, then it got too exciting (joke) and I didn't have time to update. So, here it is:

I have officially been here for three whole weeks, whoa! And now, it's absolutely fall. It was 2° C today. Just cold enough to warrant a snuggly fleece but not cold enough for gloves and a hat. This morning I showed my class pictures on my computer. Each time I go into a class, I introduce myself (it's easier with the lower classes to also use pictures) and then they ask me any questions. After the pictures, I always get: 'Does you brother have a girlfriend?' And after I introduce myself I always get: 'Do you have a boyfriend' and 'How old are you?'. While it's flattering, I'm not sure that they're retaining any of the things I'm saying that don't have to do with the dating scene. You win some, you lose some. It's terribly entertaining to hear them speak English. I also really enjoy speaking to them and trying to communicate. I always have to be sure that they know I can speak French so that they don't talk about me in French.

This weekend was great, too. I went to a goat farm -- the sister in law of one of the teachers at the school. Hamid has been so wonderful to me. He's sort of adopted me as his own child. He took me to Isabelle's farm and sat with me and helped explain why I was there (I accidentally told them I wanted money for working on the farm). And then he left, and they took me home. But he's just a very sweet, genuine man. I then fed the cows, helped tag a new baby, and moved the hay all around. Then I got to help vaccinate the sheep against some sort of hoof disease. They have chickens too, and they want me to help harvest them. Thanks to Megan I have experience with that now, so I'll be helping this coming weekend. Tomorrow I'm going back to milk the goats and make cheese. This weekend I sold cheese at a market for twelve hours!! Some people find it difficult to understand my accent -- it's such a small town that it's rare to find someone who's maternal language is not French. They don't expect me to talk funny.

We have a vacation coming up in two weeks, and I am going to BERLIN! My friend Claire has a friend there, and I do too, so we're going to be there for about six days. Then I'm going to spend one day in Switzerland, then back to work. I am also still planning to be a delegate at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December, so that will be my next trip. Then, for Christmas, it's down to Morocco, Italy and/or Greece. I'll keep you posted as to what I decide! One girl is going to an ice hotel in Sweden, doesn't that sound cool? Literally?

Tonight I'm going to cook dinner with Claire and Rebecca, American and English respecitvely, so that should be fun. It'll be nice to speak in English again. Doesn't happen very often (which is better for my French, I know...). This Friday I'm going back to Besançon to have the last portion of my orientation. They're going to teach us how to teach I think. That will be nice. I really like some of the assistants who live futher away from me, so it'll be nice to see them again. And we're planning on coordinating visits at the orientation and such.

So there is a very long update! It's not as interesting as I had hoped, but it's the truth. Maybe I'll start making things up, maybe then I'll have lots of visitors!

Oh, and I'm thinking about doing the Paris half marathon in April, weeee! Anna's trying to talk me into the full marathon, but I'm so scared....

Okay. I miss and love you all. And I think of you everyday.

Adoringly,
Sam

And, PS: I get internet in my room in less than a week! So I'll be able to upload pictures at will. You know, the ones I took on Photobooth of my first day of school. And I'll have an UNLIMITED phone that dials UNLIMITED to ANYWHERE in the WORLD. So expect some calls. I'll try to respect the time zone differences, but I can't make any promises -- I might get too excited. My mobile number is 06 37 22 94 08 if you're interested in calling or texting me in the mean time. And my other number will be up soon.