and so it begins

So, we're moving at the end of the month, which is rapidly approaching, and we have done exactly diddly-squat in preparation for the move. I have always been perpetually early - I was even early for a scheduled C-section, forcing the doctor to perform surgery on my mom a day before planned - and Steph is happy to do everything at the last possible moment. Opposites attract, indeed. Since Steph's Toussaint vacation starts on the 23rd, he has been content to wait until then to start packing, but he finally relented last night and decided he would see his oldest brother, who is a professional mover, this weekend to get some boxes. Meanwhile I'm going to start packing up non-essential clothes in our umpty-million suitcases which are currently shoved in the closet.

Unfortunately, it seems they are doing some kind of construction right in front of our apartment, with what sounds like a backhoe and a jack hammer. The front room smells like the wrong end of a diesel fueled tractor. It sounds like they've taken a pause, but if this keeps up I'm gonna have to actually leave the apartment for a little while. This would be bad because I don't have any actual errands to run, and wandering around in the rain has never been my idea of a good time. We'll have to see how that pans out.

The first French class of the year went just fine on Tuesday. It was mostly the same ladies from last year, the majority of whom are Vietnamese, another American who brings her 15 month old little girl to class (which I thought would bother me but that child has a smile that can light up a room), a lady about my age whom I assume to Indian because she hasn't said so I'm working off ethnicity/clothing/jewelry cues and who interrupts other students to attempt to correct their accents or to ask questions which I really don't like, and one new guy who actually interrupted the teacher (whom I like very much) by taking a phone call (!) and told me after class that he was Moroccan and Spanish and made a big deal about telling me that he was fasting for Ramadan. I didn't get a really good look, but I had the impression that he teeth were very pointy.

Anyway, like I said, the class was fine. We started right off the bat with some dictation, followed by a lively discussion about animals, and ended with writing a "What I Did Last Summer" paper which we'll read aloud next week. Can't wait. Normally there would be a class today, but the teacher had a scheduling conflict, so we'll be back to the usual schedule next week.

We are also charged with memorizing a famous French poem, which I will talk about in further detail in another post.