Chapter 38: I am Job.

nerd blog post #44

Salve! Io ho due fratelli. Il non ho sorelle. Il mio nome e'Emily. Quanto? Mi puo' aiutare? Trenta..

Oh hey, you guys.. You scared me! I was just practicing my language of the week. It's going okay. I have learned a bunch of new phrases, and am excited to try them out next week. Italian words seem to be a melange of English and French ones, so that's easier for me...

Today's title is not a shout-out to the Old Testament or the Ketuvim. But 45 points if you thought of great literature before the actual shout-out to the hit Hollywood film, Mrs. Doubtfire, starring that funny guy who I forget..

Yesterday afternoon was quite productive. I went to the prof's class - theatre and cinema - and did an improvised scene to demonstrate camera angles.. Weird.

Then I went to the department to check my pigeon and hole and got talking to this prof mom.. I have decided not to work at a bar because it would cut into my drinking time. Juuuust kidding! But my week-end time.. And it would mean staying here over the break and stuff like that. And so for extra money, I am thinking of other alternatives. Like .... babysitting! So I told this woman that I love kids and would babysit hers. She said she's dying for a bilingual babysitter, and said that other profs in the department are as well. A lot of the profs in the department are a combo couple of French and American/British.. So they want their kids to be well-exposed to both. She told me which other profs have kids, and I sent out an e-mail advertising my fine skillz of Lego and hair braiding. It sounds like a good second little jobby for me.

After the pigeon hole talk, I went to NESS (the English club) because I had received a message on my cellie about the theatre night they have asked me to lead. So I stop in, and they confirm that they have a high interest, and have booked a hall on campus for Wednesday nights. Great, I say. I'm happy to be a part of this.. What time is it at? From 6pm - 10pm. FOUR HOURS!? That's a lot. That's a long time for me to lead a group. And they want it in French. And so, tonight is the first one. I have zero idea what to expect.

After that shocking news, I went to the prefacture, which was to be the last leg of my work visa battle. And it was successful! I now have permission to stay here until the last day of August, 2009. I'm glad I have it - it's been an ongoing thing..

Returning home, I made moules again. This time, I wanted to try a different recipe that I made up... Curry moules. No?? Yes. They were delicious and we ate them with couscous. Then more cookies. They worked out. We doubled the recipe and it made hundreds... Enough for my class today, Cynthia's class, our roomies, department secretary Fabien, and Hossoen. Those are our friends that we wanted to bake for. Now, no more baking for awhile.. I don't really like it that much, although last night I was in a particularly good mood, and we had fun.

This morning was another last class for my first years.. I took the cookies, and was surprised to see that four or five others had brought treats! Breton cake, candies, chocolates, and more cookies! This class is made up of about twenty women, all very young.. I was intimidated on my first day.. I like boys. But they turned out to be an awesome group, and now we're all friends. They promised to continue to come to O'connells on Mondays, and today's "party" was really nice.

After classes, I swung by Hossoen's kebab stand to give him the cookies for him and his family. I also said goodbye for a bit, since I leave tomorrow for Paris and won't be back until the following Monday. He told me that the university his wife is a prof at is definitely looking for another prof right now, and that I can go in with her to check it out when I get back. This would be a few hours a week, and good money as it's a private university. I'd have to make sure the hours don't conflict, but it sounds like a great thing to check out.

And so, the lonely girl fishing in the canal has found lot's of things to fill her time in Rennes. I am very happy here. Often, the only thing missing at the end of the day is to laugh very hard with a good friend.. Or explain something in so few words to someone who knows me very well.... These are remedied by your e-mails, nerd blog comments, skype calls, and phone calls. So thank-you. I didn't know that I could be both very happy and very homesick at the same time. I thought they were independent feelings.. Most days, though, I feel a lot of both of them.. But anyways, this is getting silly. Ice-queen4life.

Signing off,
Hincks.