constants

There are a few constants in my life here in Grenoble. You know, the little things that make it different from a long vacation and turn it into a life.

Things like...

Dog poop. Dog. Poop. Dog poop everywhere. I've really never seen so much dog poop in my whole life. And I have yet to see anyone clean up after their pup. Although I did just hear about one chivalrous gentleman who pulled out some newspaper, bent down over the wreckage left by his dog, and... covered it up. Didn't pick it up, just put the newspaper on top of it. Trop de classe, monsieur. But at least the dog poop means that there are...

Dogs! So many dogs! And French people have the cutest dogs in the whole world. Not exaggerating. They're all small or medium-sized, and kind of fluffy, and curly-haired, and they all have teddy-bear faces. And apparently they all poop a lot.

Having to repeat myself every time I order something in a bakery or a restaurant because I apparently completely mispronounce every single French word ever. Hasn't made me stop going to the bakeries or restaurants though. Which brings me to the next constant...

Food. Everywhere. (But not before noon, or between 3:00pm and 7:pm or after 8:30pm). Buttery, flaky, crunchy, creamy, sweet, savoury, chocolatey, fruity- it's all here. And usually in my mouth. I've grown particularly fond of something called an apricotine, which appears to be apricots mushed in some green almond paste. And the classic croissant amande, a croissant basically filled with almond paste and sugar. And of course, pain au chocolat, because well, c'est un must. Even the grocery store brand bags of 8 are so good, you couldn't be blamed for eating an entire bag in one sitting. Which I have certainly never done. And I am going to be in such a depression when there is no longer a bakery on literally every corner. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Work. Especially of the paper variety. France loooves its paperwork. I have a folder bulging with documents I have to keep, including an x-ray of my lungs. Mhm. If I had every piece of paper and every identity photo I've had to hand over to the French government, that folder would be the size of a small buffalo. It's pretty intense.

Kids. So many kids. I work with over 100 students each week in 16 different classes. And for the most part, they are just ridiculously adorable. There are so many great things about being just a temporary, part-time teacher; the kids do not have time to get sick of you, and so they love you. And give you drawings and bisous and leg hugs and run after you yelling "Hellowhatsyourname mynameis." Plus I babysit 3 kids for 17 hours each week, and the best way I can explain that is to say that, well, 17 hours is a looot of time to spend with 3 kids in a two-room apartment. And 8 year-old boys really never. shut. up.

Construction. The city is working on a new tram line on the road I use to get to all of my schools, so it will be amazing and so convenient when it's done... in 2014. Right now, it's a giant mess of temporary bus stops and traffic cones and big machinery and noise that makes the whole area look like a ghetto. Enjoy it in 2014, Grenoble, because it is a paaaain in 2013.

Cool people. I meet a lot of really cool people here whose lives are about as different from mine as I could ever imagine, except that we've all ended up in this kind of run-down city that really just wishes it was still 1968 so it was still famous for having the winter olympics. We've got people from everywhere- Europe, Syria, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, India, etc, and they are all so nice (except the girl from Greece, I can't figure out what her problem is).

So that's that. I live here. It's dirty and cold and kind of boring sometimes, but it's also pretty cool and I like it.