it's SHelsea en francais, merci

alo!
that's how they answer the phone here. i never answer their phone because i don't think i'd do too well. today was a long, good, fun day. it was just me and the kids all day. on wednesdays in france, they don't have school, but they have things like music and pottery lessons, which is what we did today. music was a bit of a fiasco because the little girl didn't want to go, but instead of yelling at me in french, she held on to me and cried, which is a huge step forward. i felt really priveleged that she wanted to hold on to me even though i was forcing her to go to the lesson. i'm not sure they believe in tough love here.

then i went back home with the boy and started making my white beans and rice because valere (the boy) asked for me to make a dish from home. i wanted to do red beans and rice, but they had white beans, so voila that's what i did. here's the deal though: i've only make beans from a can and rice that take a minute, so this was quite the obstacle. i wanted to call my grandma because she would never make beans from a can (she does it from scratch), but it was 4 am there, and even she's not awake then. so thanks to the world wide web, i was able to get an idea of what to do and then i figured out the rest. and let me tell you, they were DAMN good beans: soaked overnight, delicately spiced, simmered for a long time, and smashed to make the sauce creamy. my grandma would be proud.

we had pottery after lunch amd i decided to take a lesson too, however because i don't speak french fluently, the lady thought i was stupid. she loudly told the kids, " speak slowly to this young lady because she doesn't know french very well." and to this, a little boy turned to me and said "heeelllllooooo." really slowly and really loud. and i was like, "uh no. not like that." then she made me wait for so long to show me how to do the clay, and i waited patiently because ithought it was kinda funny that they didn't know that a. i knew most of what they were saying b. i wasn't stupid and c. i study art in college, so i know exactly what needs to be done. when i finally got my clay, my mood improved 1000%. i also thought about how i treat foreigners. poor people, they are treated like they're dumb only because they can't communicate. how do i know that the mexican who is fixing my roof doesn't have a PhD in Mexico and he's only here because he wants his family to have a better life? An au pair is simply a nanny, an aid to the parents, so who knows what they think of me. i find it really interesting.

then we went to the library and the park and i got tons of cds and books about learning french so i'm on my way! the kids at the park love me because i play with them and i can do tricks. i'm like their dog. there was this little boy who kept asking my name but he couldn't say it and when he finally figured it out (it's shelsea in france, not CHelsea. the CH is very difficult for them), he kept saying watch me! watch me! every five seconds. it was cute.

then we ate my dinner that i'd make and it was delicious and i was so happy. and i just talked to brady so im happy too and im drinking tea which makes me happy. now im going to search online for french groceries that sell fiber one because being without my cereal makes me unhappy.

a tout a l'heure!
shelsea