Pour ma professeur, Andréa:

Chere Andréa,

Aujourd’hui nous avons etudié le suject de passé composé.  Il été très intéressant.  Il été comme vous me été enseigné. Nous devons travailler sur ça quand je rentre a la maison. Merci beaucoup!

There!  I actually wrote something in French.

What a difference a good night’s sleep makes.  I woke up with a new attitude.  And it showed in my class.  I was able to answer quite a few of Alexi’s questions, and keep up with his lecture even though he talks so fast that I’m not sure I could understand everything  he said even if it were in English.  I understood the lesson on passé composé.  It probably helped that my tutor, Andrea, went over it with me several weeks before I left.  (See above.)  (In French.)

Here’s a little description of the routine at this school:

Wake at 4:30 a.m. for prayers in French.   Flog and go back to bed.

Okay. . . . so the monastery is wearing on me.  It’s so cold in the hallways and large rooms that I’m now seeking the warmth of my bedroom which has only one working heater, and that one is in the bathroom.

We have le petit déjeuner starting at 8 a.m.  Not too bad; however, I never manage to make it down to breakfast before they’ve taken up the jam and bread.  The French don’t believe in big breakfasts, so they serve la confiture (jam) and le pain (bread) along with fruit (les fruits) and a little dry cereal (no words for that).  Coffee is strong and lots of hot water for tea is offered. I usually grab a cup of coffee and run up to join the two ladies for the class in la petite salon, as opposed to the smarter students in the class in la Grand Salon.  They even rate caps on their class sign.

Class in the morning lasts for 2 1/2 hours.  Then, there is a 45 minute mini atelier (workshop) that works on problem areas you may have.    That amount of time doesn’t begin to cover my problems–and I’m only talking about my French.

Lunch is usually around 1 p.m.  By that time, I’m starving!  So, here is what they usually serve for lunch.  Bread, some paté of some sort, fruit, cheese, vegetables and sometimes a meat.  That keeps me filled for the rest of my stay at the table.  I like to go to my room right after lunch so that my growling stomach doesn’t distract anyone.

Classes restart around 2:30.  For instance, I had a 2 1/2 hour class today to work on how to speak in simple past tense.  It’s surprising how much we need to talk about what we did yesterday. I think I may break through with this language if I can grasp what I learned today.  There are usually more classes until 7 p.m.  A lot of the students opt to take field trips to places like the small village of Moustiers Ste. Marie or the Gorges du Verdon.  Not I, glutton for punishment that I am.  I stay at the monastery for more classes while others go exploring.

Dinner is around 7:45 p.m.  I feel like a camper when I come running down from my room to get to the table.  I can hardly wait to be served.  Tonight we had a soufflé aubergine for starter, tarte au poulet and salade for main, and for dessert, tirmasu.  Not bad, huh?

We all eat at one long table (for about 25) and the meal is served family style.  Some of these people I would want for family; a few, not so much.  For the most part, the guests lead very interesting lives.  There is a couple from Brazil.  I’m not sure what the lovely wife does, but he is a lawyer who plays the piano like a concert pianist.  Amazing!  He will sit to play in the afternoons, and you can hear the music all over the monastery.  It’s beautiful. They were telling me that they visited Dallas about 3 years ago and attended church at First Baptist downtown.  They adored the music and really enjoyed the service.  I loved watching their captivating expressions as they told of their visit to Texas.

So, that’s pretty much a normal day.  Except that today was more special.  Today was wash day.  I was so excited when I returned from my class this morning and discovered that I had a clean bath towel.  I still had the same old washcloth, but I’m not complaining.  I’ll take what I can get.  The best, though, was when I went down for lunch.  Oh, my gosh.  I had a new napkin.

When we arrived on Sunday, it was late.  So, there was no meal served.  Then, Monday breakfast was simple, so the first time we used napkins was Monday at lunch.  At the end of the meal, the school director stood up and explained in French that a basket would be passed around with napkin rings.  Every ring was a little different from each other.  Not much, though.  Anyway, we were to pick out our own ring and put our used napkin in it.  Then all the napkins went back in the basket.  Then, we were to get our napkins out of the basket when we sat down for dinner.  The problem was, however, that some people didn’t get the gist of the explanation.

So, when I got to dinner (late), I picked up a napkin that I thought was mine.  When I unfolded it, it was nasty.  Let me put it this way: I don’t drool much when I eat, but some people do.  YUCK!  Someone had picked up my napkin and was using it.  I wanted to stop the whole meal and ask, in English, who took my napkin!  But I refrained.  I wouldn’t have wanted it back, anyway.  Instead, I searched through the basket of dirty napkins in their napkin rings and found a clean napkin. Voila!  I also found a napkin ring that I was able to write my name on.  Brian, my new lawyer friend from Los Angeles, was working hard to maintain his composure.  I had shown him the two napkins that I pulled out before I found the clean one.  They looked like they could be used for lab cultures.

So, today was a good day because the staff washed the bath towels AND the napkins.  Isn’t it amazing how quick you can become thankful for little things?  Europeans no doubt think that we Americans have a clean fetish.  They’re right!

Tomorrow I’m going into Moustiers with a group of the students.  Four glorious hours of exploring (read: shopping) and no class.  I’m trying to figure out how I can bring back to my room a bottle of vodka and some tonic . . . . and some limes.  And some chocolate.  And a few pastries.

I’ll fill you in later.

A bientôt!