Hello everybody!! I hope that you’re all doing well and happy, and staying warm. You know what time it is?!
Fat Tuesday!
So last Tuesday was Mardi Gras. And how many times are you in
Here’s how it’s different from American Mardi Gras….
1) Silly String is the bomb. Literally. The word for silly string here is ‘le bombe’. And it is sooo great because you buy a couple cans and it’s all out war with you, the other spectators, and the people in the parade. It’s great, too, cause what better way to get the attention of a cute guy than to shoot him in the face with silly string?! We were all such a mess, but were loving every second. We got in a fight with some kiddies, though. A fight of the silly string kind. And they ran out of it, so they resorted to picking up chunks of it from the ground and throwing it at us. And when I least expected it I got pegged in the face with a ball of silly string and something hard that made my nose feel not too pretty. We opted to stop the game there.
2) Confetti Galore. Just like the parade I was in, Confetti was flowing like cheap wine at ladies’ night (back to that later). The people on the floats had these Confetti Guns, and there were these big elaborate confetti blowers. Again, totally pimped out in confetti attire.
3) Nobody shows their boobies. You don’t need to show your love pillows for goodies here like they do in
4) The King of New Orleans is a
5) There is a parade-wide choreographed Dance. Everyone in the parade learned the same dance and did it like 5 times throughout the night. I thought that was reserved for the little kiddies I was accompanying. So not the case.
It was really sooo much fun, and the floats were awesome, and the dancers were awesome, and my company was the best part (the usual suspects).
Afterwards we decided to hit it up at the bar “Thor’s” where it’s ladies’ night on Tuesdays. I, of course, got my dance on to my favorite band here, Merla, and we met some pretty cool people that night.
So I had a very memorable French Mardi Gras. Yay me!
McMardi Gras
So how stereotyped are Americans in
So, there I was, sexy PowerPoint Presentation in hand, explaining Mardi Gras, all excited about the fancy pictures I found when I asked one class if they had any questions for me (assuming they would be about Mardi Gras). To my dismay, after my excited jabber, nobody raised their hands. So I offered my ‘No questions? I find that hard to believe!’ to which one student raised his hand. I was pleased that there was finally someone interested in my topics of teaching, until he asked his question. “Do Americans eat a lot more hamburgers than people in
It’s All in the Name
One of my classes has this really great teacher. He’s one of the friendliest and accommodating teachers to me and my English lessons. So it was no surprise when he was curious as to what my plans were for the upcoming vacation. So, at the end of class I was telling him how I was going to be taking a trip to
It’s No ‘Office’, but it’ll do
If you’re ever bored, I have a new recommendation. “Entourage”. It’s much better than I expected. Although I’ve only got the first season. And if you want cheap thrills, than I would go with “Nip/Tuck”. Although it’s so off the top that it’s almost predictable. If that makes any sense. Bottom line: I watch too many shows.
La Bataille des fleurs
Yesterday (Saturday) I headed to another parade. This one was more of an event cause you have to pay to get it, so I was expecting magic. So after waiting on line for a good while to buy the damn tickets, me, my roommate Alix, and her friend Marta and her boyfriend (the best looking French guy I’ve seen to date), headed into the parade. We bought standing room tickets, so we squeezed into a little crevice among the crowded barrier. So the premise of the parade is a Parade centered around flowers. That’s all I knew about it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
It started late which was pretty annoying, but then it got off the ground pretty quickly. So basically what it entailed were a bunch of floats that were composed of hundreds of flowers, and then people in the parade were throwing out Mimosa flowers into the crowd. There were also dancers and musicians like the previous parade, but the aura wasn’t the same. There wasn’t the same energy to it that the other night parade had.
I thought I was going to have to break up a fight though next to me because there were these two old couples in front of me and then there was this mother that tried to squeeze her child into the front. And they were NOT having it. I mean understandably, we were super cramped and got their early enough to be towards the front…and paid, so it’s not fair for someone to just show up and squeeze themselves to the front. But this lady next to me (who was reallllly annoying cause she kept shoving her hand in my face to take pics and her hair kept blowing into my face which gave me the heebie jeebies) started yelling at the couple that it was a child. And then the couples retorted. And it got louder and louder and more threatening (in my ear, of course), but the best the annoying lady could come up with was ‘I hope your pictures don’t come out at all’. I think that’s when people realized they should throw in the towel, because you can’t reason with such a monster.
Sweet Dreams are made of these…
So I think I made mention of the fact that here in
So two nights ago, I had one of the most bizarre dreams that made me realize I am online waaaaay too much. In a nutshell, I dreamt that the doorbell rang, so I went to answer the door and this random guy punched me in the face and stole my laptop. So in an attempt later on to find out who it was, I borrowed someone else’s laptop, and I was actually instant messaging the robber, and then he sent me an instant message that had one of those smileys that you use…but it had a black eye and a runny nose. Then he apologized for punching me in the face. That’s the only vivid part I remember but then I do know I was sent on this scavenger hunt to find him ultimately. So it was a mix of Rocky, Ocean’s 11, and Amélie all in one.
But I think it was a subconscious intervention for my addiction to the internet.
My One-on-One French Fry Is the Bomb Diggity
I am pleased to announce that the boy I tutored got an A on his last test. Yes, he did. (It was irregular verbs). So all those index cards and practice tests paid off. And he was so proud to show me. It was really cute.
And there is this phenomenon apparently, where if you talk about what he’s passionate about his English gets like 10 times better. We were just having random conversation to practice his oral English, and I taught him the verb “to try”. And he goes, you know, there’s a thing called a try in rugby (he’s very passionate about playing rugby), so I was like ‘oh yeah? You think you can teach me the rules of rugby?’ So, all of a sudden there he was speaking English super fast and using big words and just being impressive. And the added bonus was I learned some of the rules of rugby…but I had Wikepedia explain the confusing parts to me after he left. So that lesson I think I learned more from him than he learned from me. I should be paying him.
Is that all there is?
Yes.
I hope you all had a wonderful week, like I did. And furthermore, this girl gets to go to
I miss you all very much, and don’t forget what month is coming up and what very special event happens on the 20th of that month.
And on an unrelated note:
Dina Berkovits
Chez Mme Craighero
+33 6 82 69 -- --
(Just thought you may like to have those ;))
XOXOXO,
Dina
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