So East it's Ouest

...Italy. So I took up Anna-Maria's offer to visit down near Pisa in Tuscany.  Using the super cheap and super simple (a bus goes straight from Lille to the front door of the airport) Charleroi airport in Belgium I headed on down bearing gifts from Lucia from the north of France.  Anna and her husband Nick live in a small town nearby called Vicopisano nearby Pisa.  He is Dutch/Italian she is French/Italian and they speak english, italian, dutch and french fluently.  Ridiculous.  They both work as language teachers and Nick also heads up a bagpipe troup and is a Scottish aficionado (kilts kilts kilts), he wears a bowler hat.  They are part of the english group in Pisa and they study with many nigerians so they are now learning nigerian pidgeon,  things like 'You face be fine'=you're looking good. Tuscany  vs the south of France:         Basically Tuscany is really similar to the south of France.  Differences: they speak italian, cheese/coffee/pasta/ham, green shutt

Re-accepted  Yes I have had my contract extended for the next and final year (you can do the program twice) of 2016-2017.  I sent in my 'demande' for the Academie of Bordeaux but we'll see.  I should recieve some more information in June and then again later this summer before taking off again the end of September.   

Oh France.  You're so beautiful but so complicated.  You're so up tight but you love you some fries.  You can be so polite but you choose to be rude.  France, Fraaaannnce why do you act like you do?  This is an ode to one small portion of the French buraucratic system known as ' la CAF ' or 'Caisse allocation familial' that is sooooo French.   What is CAF?   CAF is a housing stipend that is available to many people especially poor people (me) or people with kids.  You can even get the stipend even if you are not french, yes! How do you get CAF?  You send in every piece of information about yourself and your logeing.  In the end you would rather just send in a blood sample, all your ID cards and your life story if it would go faster. How long does it take?   For ev er for ev er for ev er.  I sent in my documents in October and I am just now getting my stipend the end of April. So why the hassle for CAF?  Basically it pays in some cases over half of yo

 Just some pics to make you start drooling. La Carbonade Flamande La celerirave rapé Un Welsh La biere   Les endives (les chicons)  with ham and cheese, as a raw salad, or carmalised   Le maroille-and anything it touches Spéculoos   La chicorée   Les Frites

My weeks of paid vacation are at an end; duh duh dahhhhhh; and only one more week of work.  Soon my parents will be coming in order to help me pack up my belongings and slowly head back home, traveling...     But you might ask what did Emily do over her last vacation?  Funny you should ask. So as customary every 6 weeks in France at school they have 2 weeks off.  I will just briefly mention that because of terrorism and other unforseen circumstances this year several friends and family were unable to come visit.  This was the case for the 1st week of my spring break, so for several days I honestly did absolutely NOTHING.  Which in a way is very nice.  However the days that followed were jammed pack with action, basically I should have made a video it was that good. Thursday:  Guests for breakfast and lunch, left for afternoon field service, cycling class until 9pm, dinner, decide to go to Brugge tommorrow, pack lunch, buy  train tickets, sleep Friday: Wake up at 5:00 no time f

The smell of fresh cut grass and daffodils is in the air. The days are a tad longer and I have had a few glimpses of this thing called the sun?  I got to visit with Heather over in Belgium and go to the assembly in English (yes!). We've had a lot of visitors (Lucia's family) come this month and last.  Lucia couldn't eat sugar after her surgery so she started eating peanut butter (of course some I brought over), I have now made peanut butter 2 times a week for the past month.  I'm telling they can't get enough of it.  I finally convinced my southerners to come up to visit Lille and yes I'm pretty sure they enjoyed their visit.  They rented a little place in Lille so I got a little vacation with them for a long weekend.  I mean who wouldn't love eating delicious food (cough Michelin cough) , sunny days and a bit of quality vieux Lille markets and shopping?  This is my last month on the job which got me in a reflective mood thinking about how it's gone over