This morning was beautiful once again. There wasn't a rain cloud in sight. I had more meeting this morning about teaching. The meetings are a little boring and from time to time I tend to get a little lost considering they are all in French. But our director Stephane is so nice and helpful. He is originally French but studied in England when he was younger, so when he actual does speak English which is rarely he speaks perfectly. It so funny cause he doesn't have a French accent when he speaks but an English. He’s a very great person and a helpful contact. In our meeting in the morning he told us he wanted us to find our schools and speak with our Director/rice. The Director/rice is the equivalent of the principals at elementary schools. So I went home had some lunch then took the bus to my school. It’s about a 25 min bus ride followed by a 5 min walk. My school Marcel Pagnol is located on the outskirts of Laval. It very nice area, the homes are newer and it's in a more suburban area. Most of the homes are a little bit bigger than the ones I have found in the busier part of town. They are also further apart from each other and have yards. Most of them have jungle gym sets in them, so I’m thinking they are mostly families with young children. But my school is larger than most, not sure the exact number of students but I'll find out next week for you. Directly next to my school are a post office, my bank Crédit Mutuel, and a tobac. A tobac is like a little 7-eleven. They usually have drinks, magazines, phone cards, and snacks. They also sell hot lunches in there and they are fairly inexpensive. It'll be perfect for me on my lunch breaks. I met the directrice of Marcel Pagnol, Myriam. She is so nice, easy to understand, and beautiful. She is so tall and young reminds me of Holly Newnon. To be honest I was expecting an old scary looking man. I also met some of the other teachers, they all seemed really nice. There were about 4 young teachers there around my age, so it'll be nice to work with them and possible have them show me around. Although they speak extremely fast. They were much harder to understand than Myriam. I'll be sure to take pictures of my school next week. I have to observe my classes twice next week for 2 full days. I’ll be observing them on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday the people of Laval and the people of France will be on strike. So if this strike does happen I will be observing on Thursday. It has been very interesting with all the commotion of le grève (strike in French). I see that word everywhere I turn, on the news, flyers around town, in the newspaper, and on the radio. Le grève is about raising the retirement age here is France. It’s so interesting to see all the efforts that are being put into the strike. In the building that I have my meetings in there was a man outside handing out flyers about le grève and information on protesting. Also there is a sheet with the word grève on it in, on this really small island that is in the middle of Le Mayenne River that passes through the center of town. It’s so cool how the nation will band together and try and make a change. They actually do it instead of just sitting around talking about it. I'll be sure to take some pictures and tell you how the strike is on Tuesday the 12th.
Later that night we hit up our favorite bar, O'Reagans. I have to be honest I getting a little tired of that bar and I'm ready to start exploring other ones here in this lovely city of Laval.
Miss you all!
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