La Belle Vie

It looks like we made it: another Monday can officially be checked off the list. Mondays can be tiring and after a long weekend, I often find it hard to pull myself out of bed and get moving for the day. Well, to spice up our Mondays (and Wednesdays for that matter), Casey and I have decided to speak with each other only in French on those days each week. It can be a little bit tricky when you come home after a long day of work and you can't come up with the the exact word to explain how stressed or disappointed you really are with the events of the day, but it can also be a fun activity. It actually makes me want to speak more than normal and share more of the little details in each story because, let's face it--life is more exciting when you are speaking French!

One thing we have been doing over the last week is visiting the Parade of Homes. It is pretty awe-inspiring to see all the work that goes into these 500,000+ dollar homes. A couple of them had an indoor basketball court. One had a drinking fountain to the side of the fancy home gym. Several had cool waterfalls in the backyard. The Home Theaters at these places were to die for! One house in Saratoga Springs was built right next to the shore of Utah Lake. They decorated it all in seashells and made it feel like I was on the coast of California. All I could wonder was what do these people do for work? How do they afford these mansions? And if I can't have one, how could I ever sign up to be their friend? Last Wednesday, Casey and I walked around speaking le français as if we were a French couple. I am sure we made everyone jealous (or annoyed, but I prefer to think jealous.) Lots of salespeople in the garages as we exited the houses approached us, trying to sell their solar paneling and other home gadgets. We must have looked like some well-off couple from Europe--minus the fancy clothes.

We are right in the middle of French Camp right now and those little chillins are making tons of progress. It's exciting to see them actually have the confidence to open their mouths and say more than bonjour. I teach the morning language classes to the advanced students. It is fun to have a class of kids who all want to be there and all want to speak French all the time! My friend Emily is the cooking teacher. She works so hard getting all the recipes together for mini quiche and French pastries. Today, the students made almond and chocolate-filled croissants. These are to die for, I tell you! Besides the fact that some kids have had issues reading a French recipe and put a cup of sugar in the mixing bowl instead of a tablespoon, most of them have turned out some amazing treats. This really is the perfect summer job!

Today, I taught them a French Canadian dance called La Bastringue. This means "The Gathering." It is a mixer dance and even though nobody said they wanted to dance, they actually all got really into it (including some boys who originally said they would be sitting out) and Voilà--a little group of dancing French teenagers! Who would have guessed?