So this is la vie paloise!

Plaza of the Americas throwback.

Sorry it's been a few weeks since my last post! Not much has been going on over here. After returning to work I've finally felt like I've been settling into my new life over here. I'm starting to learn at least a few of the students' names and at least have an idea of who their teacher is when I see them in the hallway. I don't realize how many I actually have until I see them in town or on the street next to the school and they tell me "Hello!" or "Bonjour!" and from time to time leave me wondering who they are.

High school in France is very different from high school in the U.S., and having the opportunity to be a language assistant here has made me much more of aware of these differences. Students do more presentations and speak a lot more in general in American classes whereas over here it seems to be the teachers who do most of the talking. This makes for some really quiet classes when the students are left with me. I've noticed that most of the girls are particularly quiet or self-conscious. While I'm here I want to try to get some of my girls talking just as much as the guys.
 

Part of a whiteboard after one of my lessons, haha.

While I have some classes filled of students with blank stares who are absolutely silent, as much as I ask if they understand and if they can just give me a sign that they're alive, there are other classes I have where the students are literally bouncing off the walls. It can be a lot to handle when there are 10-15 high schoolers jabbering and acting like teenagers, but the classes where students are lively have been my favorite. This last week it was fun seeing the expressions of shock on my students' faces when I told them about Thanksgiving and showed them pictures of what Americans eat for the holiday. Across the board most students found pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole to be the strangest dishes.

A few weeks ago when I finally experienced some of the torrential, rainy weather that the Palois have been talking about, my friends and I used the time to go to the art museum here in Pau. Right now they have an exhibit called 'The Museum Experience" with a bunch of old posters from rock concerts during the 1960s and 1970s. In general we always think of the 60s and 70s as a radical, dramatic time and it was cool to see how it was manifested in posters advertising concerts from these classic artists. It was great to have music from artists/groups like Jefferson Airplane, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Bob Dylan playing while going through the exhibit.

The Peanut Butter Conspiracy poster. Mmm PB...

Bob Dylan poster

Outside of work, for the most part I've just been hanging out with some of the other assistants and doing what we do best-- eating. We had tex-mex earlier this week with some of our new French friends and I tried my hand again with my dried black beans. They turned out better, but I think I'm going to swear off black beans until I can find a can of them. I've made a few more French dishes in the last few weeks. I made courgettes à la marseillaise (think ratatouille, but with rice and no eggplant), which was quite delicious. I think the French may eat this as more of a side dish, but when you're young and on a budget, with a piece of baguette and some cheese it makes a delicious meal. 

Courgettes à la marseillaise

Croque-monsieur

The owners of my apartment finally hooked us up with a toaster oven and to christen it, I made one of my favorite French foods-- croque monsieur. It's really simple and not super fancy, but with real gruyère, ham and crème fraîche it doesn't get much better. I like to call it France's sophisticated answer to grilled cheese.
 

Can we even find these in the U.S.?

To continue on the topic of food, last Saturday my friends and I went to the market at Les Halles for the first time, and in perfect weather it was absolutely lovely. There was a used book stand where I was able to pick up a copy of L'Etranger and a book of some of Baudelaire's poems for only one euro. Other than book shopping it was fun to go around to the different stands and look at cooking materials, scarves, fruits, vegetables, meat and bread. At one stand we tried gâteau basque, a cake with cream from the region, which was delicious. I needed honey, and so instead of buying some generic store honey at the supermarket I decided to get some at the market. After a conversation about different types of honey with a friendly producer and several honey samples later, I decided on a type to purchase. When it comes to getting produce, I've learned that going to the market is really the best way to go. The fruits and vegetables all look so much better than what you find in the supermarkets (and in some cases depending on the stand you go to, are cheaper as well!). Certain fruits and veggies in particular such as bananas, are much better at the market.

Like I said, really just life has been going on-- la vie paloise. Now that I'm settled, I'm trying to look for clubs/organizations I can join, volunteering opportunities, etc. Next week is going to be a busy one, with my roommate's birthday on Wednesday, hopefully a concert at the Centrifugeuse at the university on Tuesday and a Thanksgiving celebration with the other assistants on Saturday, so I'll definitely have a lot to report next time. Tomorrow I'm going hiking in the Pyrenees with two teachers, the husband of one of the teachers and four of my friends. Expect great pictures in the next post. It should be a blast! For now I leave you with a picture of one of the saddest aspects of living in France.

An itty-bitty seven euro jar of Skippy.