Not enough hours in a day..

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it." (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)

The past few days I have gone nonstop, but I'm loving every minute. This is one of my favorite quotes (from an excellent movie) because it's so true. I've already experienced so much and I've been keeping so busy that I need to continue to make the effort to stop and enjoy my surroundings and the people I spend my time with.

Street in Vieux Tours

Basilique St. Martin in Tours

Train Station in Tours

Pont Wilson and the Loire River, Tours

My mother and me :)

L'Hotel de Ville, Tours

Cathedrale St. Gatien, Tours

Part of the Chateau, Tours

Inside the Opera House, Tours

Friday afternoon I went to both schools to observe. I spent the morning at Montaigne, and then Michelle took me to her house for lunch where I met her husband and daughter. Her daughter, Valentina, is 20 and studying English at the university in Tours so I'm hoping that I will see her again soon. Michelle's husband cooked lunch for us and then Michelle drove me to JP Rameau so I could observe classes there in the afternoon. She is such a wonderful person and continues to go out of her way to make me feel welcome. I am so grateful she's taken me under her wing and has been willing to help me with anything. In addition, she's wonderful company and so much fun to chat with!

Before going out with some friends Friday evening, I was lucky enough to talk to Eddie and Tim on their phones, thanks to Eddie's computer program he helped me set up before leaving the states. It was so good to hear from both of them and to catch up. Later on I met up with some friends, shared some sangria with Alex and bonded with Ryan while sharing a kebab.

Saturday morning I had to wake up early, even though I didn't go to sleep until 3am, so that I could get to the bank. I needed to deposit money asap because in France, bills are commonly paid by simple wire transfers. My electric company had my bank info from when I signed up, and I needed to get some money in the account before I had a bill. The problem is, I'm still waiting for some paperwork to get through mail system (saying the post office verified my address) so that I can get my debit card and check book. Anyway, after the bank I spent a couple of hours walking around the city. I walked down the path by the river towards the chateau, stopped in a bookstore to browse, and went inside the Opera. The orchestra had a rehearsal open to the public that I sat in on and listened to for a while. In the late afternoon I went to Caroline's house for a rugby viewing party and get together. We left her house around midnight to go to some bars. Not much was happening so around 2am Ryan and John were kind enough to walk me home, thankfully. I'm fairly confident I'd be safe walking home alone, but I'm not one to take chances when they offered to walk me home.

This morning came a little to early. I woke up at 7am and met Lucy, my neighbor and a gym teacher at Montaigne, at 8am to leave for a hike. We met Michelle and her husband, the principal, and her friend for a 10km hike. It was in the countryside and forest near Azay-le-Rideau, about 40 minutes away by car from Tours. It was a big public event- there were many cyclists. Although I was really dragging from a lack of sleep, it was a beautiful hike and I was in excellent company. Apparently a very French thing to do while hiking, especially in this region, is to find good mushrooms. The principal had a nice collection for dinner by the end of the hike. We also passed some vineyards and tasted the grapes fresh from the vine, ate fresh fig right from the tree, and also found some blackberry bushes. At the end of the hike there were a couple of food tents set up where we had a sandwich and some fruit, and also some regional specialties including poires tapees and a partially fermented bubbly juice/wine. Poire tappees are pears partially dried in an oven and then soaked in sweet wine with a hint of cinnamon- absolutely delicious!

This afternoon I came back from the hike absolutely exhausted. I was able to talk to my parents, Zack and Amy, and Tori on the phone. It's always so good to catch up with what's going on and home and just to hear familiar voices. Tori let me know she bought her tickets to come visit in January, for which I am beyond ecstatic! Hearing that news made me bounce up and down in my chair and I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. Just thinking about it now I can't help but smile :)

Tomorrow is my first day teaching lessons solo. Three classes tomorrow, and three on Tuesday! Keeping my fingers crossed that the classes go smoothly and the kids have fun!