Paychecks, the French and Other Updates

After a lot of confusion and round-about conversations, we finally got paid!! Apparently our program was created by the old government, and the new government here doesn't like it so much. So getting the money out of them has been difficult. Luckily our schools agreed to pay us out of pocket while the government figured it out. Having money is definitely nice, but I'm having trouble accessing mine. There is something wrong with my bank card, so I have to go to the bank tomorrow and figure that out! Luckily I have two tutoring gigs right now (and another one starting next week!) so that keeps me in pocket money.
For those of you who haven't heard, my grandmother, Maw Maw, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last week. They've given her two weeks to live. I struggled with what to do, but have decided not to fly home. It is too expensive to be practical and I think I'd prefer to keep my pleasant memories rather than seeing her in this state.

Josh (another UGA student doing the program here) had some friends from France come visit last week. I'm not sure how exactly he knows them, but they were really nice. We had a great "botellon" which is where you buy bottles and go sit in a park and drink until your heart is content (there are no open container laws here!) It is much cheaper than going to a bar! Being from France, they spoke very little English and so we conversed in Spanish the whole time. I found it easier to converse with them since they were not native speakers. They spoke more slowly and clearly, and I wasn't as nervous about messing up. My Spanish is slowly getting better. Tomorrow I am meeting with one of the parents from my schools, I didn't understand her exactly, but I think she wants a conversations partner. This way I could help her improve her English and she could help me improve my Spanish. So hopefully that works out well!
The weather here has gotten a little colder. With a high of mid to low 60 during the day. Lots of people here are wearing huge coats, but I am fine with my light jacket during the day. Plus I walk everywhere, so that helps me keep warm!

For Thanksgiving, the American style diner is having a big turkey dinner, so I think we are going to try to join in on that!
I think we've decided on Christmas plans as well. We will spend Christmas eve/day here with the roomies. Then we will fly to Zurich (Switzerland) and spend a few days there. After that we will take a train to France in time to celebrate New Years in Paris! I'm very excited, I can't wait!

School is going well. In some classes I'm just there to pronounce words and help with work sheets, in some classes I deliver the teacher's lesson plans, and in others I get to do whatever activities I can create. So it's a nice range. I think the students here are more or less the same than at home (and definitely better behaved than in England). Some of my roommates say the students here are worse behaved than American students. I don't know if their students are that much different than mine, or if my time actually teaching and working in classrooms at home has given me a different perspective. None of my teachers here have very strong management strategies (most rely on sheer voice volume) so it is difficult to compare. Plus there is just a more relaxed air to the classrooms here that is hard to find (but not unheard of) in the states.

Shipping here is definitely much cheaper than shipping to England! Joseph's family sent him a rather large package (9lbs I think) and it cost about $50. A similar sized package to England cost almost $150!! Also mail appears to take just over a week to arrive.
Also Jessica discovered that shopping on Amazon.co.uk (the British website) ends up being a lot cheaper than the American one. International shipping from the American one is outrageous, so even with the conversion rate, shopping in Pounds is a better deal!

Well I guess that will have to do for now! We are getting ready to head out to a Cider Bar! From the little I've had, Spanish cider is nothing compared to British cider (which I fell in love with while I was there) but I am looking forward to it none the less! Luego!