thai food, crazy students, and a little bit of culture!

After the good news last week, Brazilian and I made a Thai meal for some of our friends. We took a cooking class near Chiang Mai (in the North), so we were excited to try out the recipes we had and our new Thai cooking skills. We started with an apero of peanuts including coconut milk coated ones (so good!) followed by an entree of chicken and galangal coconut soup and rice. There wasn't a drop left! The main dish was, of course, the most famous Thai dish - Pad Thai. It's so easy to make (just made it again tonight with Denise) and delicious. Dessert was mango and sticky rice which is also covered in coconut milk. Yum! It was all a huge hit.

Friday night, I had one of the most hilarious encounters ever with my students. I was walking with a few friends around midnight and we ran into another friend of mine and her boyfriend who is a local musician. While nearing the main square, there were about 20 people approaching. Getting closer, I realized they were my students. My very drunk and stoned students. Once they spotted me, some of them stared, trying to place me. Two of the drunker ones started shouting "C'est Shannon! C'est Shannon!" (It's Shannon!), and I just couldn't help but laugh. A blond girl just kept pointing at me and telling her boyfriend it was me (he was my student last year and has since finished). She could barely look at me in class on Monday. As I walked away, they started singing a song with my name in it that they created on the spot. I was in fits of laughter. The local musician was just like "I've been playing here for years and am not as popular as you." I love my students.

Saturday, after an entertaining lunch and cake fiasco plus apartment visiting (coup de coeur!) with Brazilian, I headed to Lille for La Nuit des Musees (European Museum Night) where museums are open until midnight and there are special festivities going on. I met up with J who lives there, and we enjoyed a drink out on a sunny terrace. We went to two museums - Beaux Arts and Gare Saint Sauveur, but there were so many people and the exhibits weren't too impressive, so we got bored of it quickly. We then attempted to find a good bar in the area for a drink, but we had the option of either loud music where we couldn't talk or the Lille football match on TV. We endured the match for one drink but then decided the Doctor Who special on TV was more worthy of our attention.

Sunday, we went to see the new film Dark Shadows (in English!). It had been ages since I had seen a film at the cinema - not since when I was at home over Christmas. The film was strange but good. Even one of my colleagues had seen it. We literally went to the exact same places in Lille all weekend but never crossed paths.

Other than that, I'm in full apartment search with Brazilian. We have tons of places to see this weekend. I really want to get this sorted soon so I can move and get everything settled before.... going home this summer for a new visa. Ugh. I waited two hours at the Sous Prefecture this afternoon so I could spend 30 seconds of asking the question and the guy telling me I would need to get a new visa.