French Class

I did not grow up reading the newspaper. My grandmother kindly let us have copies of her already-read papers for school projects and newspaper drives. The sixth grade teacher provided newspapers for our current event projects. Beyond the occasional reading at my cousin's house when I'm bored, I generally stay away from this daily journal.

Ah, but then there's my French class. There are only four enrolled students. The professor has tried to have us do our exercises together in class, but three of the four want to work alone. So how is she forcing us to interact? One our regular homework assignments is to find a newspaper article from a French news website that we will share in class and discuss.

I still think that most news articles are uninteresting. Just like Americans, the French have eye-catching titles with not-so-intriguing information related to the titles. In any case, this experience is helping me get to know the French culture better because I'm reading about what's happening in the country--from school dropouts to pensionners needing to go back to work. Perhaps I will continue to peruse the periodicals when I return to France so I can have something pertinent to discuss with the locals.

My Nephew

John Paul is playing baseball this year. I got to take him to practice a few days ago and watch him play. The boys on his team are of various ages and abilities. JP does a good job at bat, and he's improving at fielding the ball.

Family, Friends, and Family Friends

I spent a few days back east visiting family, friends, and family friends. It has been nearly seven years since I've been to see my dad's first cousin, Porter, who lives in Nashville. Spent the afternoon visiting, getting up to date on the family, and discussing family history.While I was in town, spent the evening with friends Rob & Katrina. I worked with Rob when I was at Turning Point. Rob (with help from granddaughter Miranda) cooked a delicious meal of tartiflette, salad, bread, and apple pie.Mary is a dear friend of my family. Her parents were friends of my grandparents. Had another afternoon of visiting and catching up on family news with Mary and her sister Floss. The paintings on the wall were done by my great aunt.