a brain break

Thursday I met C. for lunch at a restaurant/bar that claimed to have a menu of Tex Mex food. I didn't set my hopes too high, having already tried various "American" food here, but it was worth a shot. Imagine my surprise when the food was excellent! It was the best chimichanga I've ever had (chimichangas not being something I would have ordered back home) and I can't remember the last time a Corona tasted so good. Obviously it didn't hold a candle to the mexican restaurant I frequented the most back in the states, home of the Best Cheese Dip Ever (in my humble opinion) but at least I've found a decent substitute for when I'm craving spicy food.

C. and her family lived in the same town as me for four years until last July, when they moved to Troyes. It was great to reminisce about our former town. We laughed about the ice storm we had last year that shut the whole town down while we watched it snow like mad. We sat and talked (in English, I should add) for nearly three hours, and it was a much needed brain break for me. It's one thing to type away and communicate online in my mother tongue, but it really invigorates me to hear it every once in a while.

The other good news is that I finally heard back from the office of Mr. Irish on Thursday afternoon. The only problem was, the email had been deleted by gmail because it had an error or some kind of virus attached to it (thank you Gmail but imagine my frustration!). I had to screw up my courage and call.

I asked for the woman who's name was listed as the sender of the email. We assumed she was the secretary (silly me, making assumptions) and since her name is French, I prepared myself for a conversation in French with Steph standing by to assist. When she answered the phone, I stumbled along in French, but I heard her reply, "Yes?"

"Ooh! Vous parlez anglais?"

"Oh yes!"

Hooray!

Turns out she's another instructor, and I think she is one of the instructors Mr. Irish was telling me about, who are French but have spent several years in England and have flawless accents. She certainly did. I never ever would have known she was French. (Plus, hello, English accents are lovely to listen to!)

Long(er) story short: Mr. Irish actually gave her my info a week ago but for whatever reason had put off sending it to me (er, thanks). But the good news is I finally have the titles Mr. Irish recommended to study up on English grammar, and they should be arriving from amazon.co.uk sometime between Monday and Wednesday. Time to buckle down!