Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Sorry things have been a little quiet here. We've mostly been hanging around Orléans, working, and reading books. Starting this weekend things are going to get a little crazy for the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more interesting posts in the future.

We've had three days in a row of lovely, warm weather. Dare I say it...spring is here! It's so nice not having to pile on layers of coats, scarfs, hats, and gloves to go outside. It's amazing the (seemingly) overnight difference in temperature. People are out in the streets, soaking up the sunshine. We went to the center of town on Monday and just sat in the sun talking for a while.

We had an Asian potluck two weeks ago with the other assistants. It was a success! I made tempura and Andrew made California rolls, and we had a great range of stir-frys and other yummy treats. Unfortunately, I was glued to the stove and didn't take any photos until after the food had all been eaten.

I made homemade bagels for two French friends, Emilie and Thibault. Emilie lived in San Francisco for a year, so she was very familiar with them, but her boyfriend Thibault had never had them before. It was a fun treat, and they're so easy to make! I made seasame, poppyseed, garlic/onion, chocolate chip, and cinnamon.

We went to a raclette party at Sandrine's house with the other assistants. It was fun, even though some assistants got a *little* tipsy and broke glassware. I was, I think, the only sober one there as I had a bad cold and didn't have the stomach for booze. I'm really thrilled about my 5€ raclette grill that I bought oh so long ago and would love to take it home with me! We'll see how much room Andrew's parents have in their luggage when they leave France. Maybe we can bribe them with chocolate to carry some extra stuff!

Andrew and I decided to do the French summer program and head to Italy for three weeks after, thus flying out of Rome to China. The Italian program was being really picky about our schedule, and the fact that we may still be dealing with Chinese visa issues in June means that we should stick around the embassy in France until that's all sorted out. But I'm excited to go to Italy and visit some friends I have there and to FINALLY see Italy. It just seems wrong, having been a Classics major, studying Roman history and Latin for so many years, that I have never been to Italy. Well, it shall be remedied.

My sister will be having her baby really soon. I wish I could go home to see her!