good news, new classes, free drinks, and awesome friends :-)

I guess I should start with the big news, I'll be studying in Poitiers this summer! I don't have to pay anything! Sweet! I'm excited. Yay for being poor and getting grant money! I'm hoping to check out the city when I go down to nearby Niort for about a week in April with Emily to visit Jessica.

The rest of my classes went well for the week. I was completely in charge of my 2ndes on Thursday and Friday. I even chose the activity for the LV2 group which saved the class from being the two most boring hours ever. Claude was late (comme d'hab), and the students tried to point that out to C. when he came into the room, because they are technically allowed to leave if the teacher is so many minutes late. C. pointed out that they were with me so there were "pas de souci" (no worries). And Claude arrived soon after anyway. Starting on Monday, I'm going to be working with the new BTS (a.k.a. D.'s class) the weeks they're there. I met the newest student on Friday. He's from Orleans and is my age (a little older even). This shall be interesting...

Claude and I did a lot of work on my French the past few days. It's really helping. I love that he takes the time to work with me even though he works far more than any other teacher in France does (he does 26 classes a week at the lycee... plus a few hours at a primary school).

Friday, we went to La Rotonde for a yummy lunch instead of eating the cantine's fish. They were so busy and packed. Some confusion was caused when they told us to pay later. The looks on our faces caused them to try to tell us in English. No, I understand the words, just not the concept. But I guess the fact that we are always there means they can trust us. Sure enough, we were back there a few hours later for drinks. The boss even offered us a drink on him! I'm game for that!

That evening, we went to the other assistants' for one of the girls' birthdays. It was fine, but the evening was still a little awkward. Oh well. And then, when they asked us about the surveillants and why it's so bizarre they don't want to talk to the assistants despite being the same age, Roxy and I just sort of looked at each other. We then told them that we get along great with ours and that we hang out with them quite often. C. stays the weekend, A. fights for our attention, S. never fails to chat with us (I've even been out with him and his friends), Francois loves to shout "English!" whenever he sees us, etc. S. actually also works at their lycee, but apparently, he yelled at them once (he mistook them for students) and never talked to them again.

Yesterday, we went to Paris for some shopping and to meet up with Anna. I was so happy to finally see Anna for the first time since before Christmas! It's so lame how we live so close but yet see so little of each other. Yes, we chat all the time, but it's still nice to not be confined to the phone or Skype. I found a few things at the sales and also found Roxy's birthday gift. For dinner, we had Hawaiian pizza which I have been craving for months!

C. continues to be so very awesome. He thought I was upset over something at dinner on Thursday. I don't know. I think I was quieter than normal at first. He immediately was very concerned and asked me what was wrong, and I really had to assure him I was fine (which I was). I then told him about Poitiers, and he restated the invitation he extended to visit him at his parents' place in La Rochelle. I also told him about visiting Niort, and if he's there, he wants to meet up with us as well. It's so sweet of him, so I really hope I have some time despite the hellish program I'll be starting. We also made fun of A. some at dinner, because he can be such a baby sometimes when it comes to food. Ahh... "le petit". But they found me funny later on the night when I was chatting with C. on MSN. I may have "lost" something temporarily in my room, and since it's so tiny... yeah. And then yesterday, I was texting C. a bunch while in Paris. When I told him that Anna has a keychain for him and how I'd be giving it to him on Wednesday, he called us "adorables". How can you not love a guy as sweet as that? Roxy and I, bored on the train, came up with a version of Will and Grace with us as the characters. I won't go into details, but we were in fits of laughter. Now, to explain this to C.... maybe not. I don't know if the show ever aired here anyway.