So East it's Ouest

My dear friends I can now breath in this country called France.  My social security papers are filled out, my rental agreement is filled out, my bank account is up and running, my school paperwork is filled out, my medical visit is scheduled for next week, I have my school lunch cards, I have all my goods in order to save a few bucks (youth card, grocery store loyalty card, carnets for bus/metro), a French cell phone, etc etc.  I bought some panier bags for my bike to make it a real workhorse transportation vehicle.  I got some warm clothes, started  really teaching and preparing lessons, I have two new return visits👍🏼 ok I'm told they might have been charmed by my accent so what?  I know when the trash gets picked up, where to park my bike, where to grocery shop, I know some of the good beers of the region, I brought in a mug/tea/and snacks for my school cubby, yeah I'm feeling at home.   I feel like this is the first time in France that I've ever felt comfortable.  I

I got to visit my friends (aka my people=aka my French family) in Avignon!  🎶Reunited and it feels so good🎶.  The word relief comes from the old French word to raise up or alleviate and that's exactly how I feel when I'm with them.  It's great with these people, even with a 1½ year break we just picked right back up where we had left off.  I spent just about a week with them down in the south.  I got to take off a layer or two and enjoy some of the nice weather; made it for both of the meetings, went out in service a few days (which in this beautiful corner of the earth is basically preaching/sight seeing) but mostly we ate together, my favorite type of vacation 👌🏼😉.  There is no such thing as too many cloves of roasted garlic.  With this lot lunch will always end at 6:00pm and include conversations of architecture in paradise.  I managed to bring down some 'maroille' cheese and beer from the north with out any accidents or stinky cheese clothes and my America

  🎼Well thought out letters and Merino wool sweaters       Macintosh apples and French sounding better       My morning coffee and reading 1 Kings       These are a few of my favorite things🎶. Ok so that was just me subconsciously conciously thinking about another newly added favorite thing of mine.   -LILLE  - Oh Lille, is it possible to love a city?  I mean come on it's just a place; a place where jazz is heard in the square and Thai restaurants are flourishing, where bicyclists have no need to fear, the metro is always a step away, trains trains trains, Flemish architecture, art museums, where you can find cilantro at the Wazemmes market, tea rooms and estaminets, Maroille the STINKIEST cheese in FRANCE, people smile at each other, the boutiques are quirky , the title artisanal beer stands for something and hosts not only the international festival of soup but the largest antique/flea market in France once a year.  It's not like it's a person or an animal it's only