Anyway though, it is good that I am fairly at ease about my courses because I have fallen ill with a cold. Yesterday I could barely swallow my throat was so sore and inflamed, so I went to the nurse who gave me some alkezelzer like tablets dissolved in water and 4 cough drops, and I made about 4 enormous cups of tea with hearty servings of honey and sure enough this morning I woke up with a throat that was completely normal. Unfortunately after about 2-3 hours my nose began to run and some congestion set in. Therefore I went back to the nurse (I am beginning to get the hang of the French health system) and she gave me some pills and told me to come back tomorrow if my symptoms persist/worsen. I guess we'll see. Either way I would definitely appreciate you keeping my health in your prayers because I look forward to my recovery!
Also I had a meeting today with a family for which I might become the "when-needed" anglophone babysitter. I saw an announcement at the university so I decided to call the family because I thought that that would be a fun way to earn a little bit of extra money, and as it turns out that family was super nice and the girls were really cute! They are 9 and 12 and their names are Marie and Alice. And as a side note, when I called the mother to work out a meeting time, she asked me specifically if I was anglophone because, as she told me today, she thought I was German because of my accent. This just boggles me because I cannot figure out how I, who speaks no German, can have a German accent when I speak French. This is about the 15th time that people have told me that they thought I was German, which is a lot given that I have only been here 20 days, and I don't meet new people everyday. Either way I am lucky though because never once has anyone thought that I was American. If anything besides German they think I am English, which apparently has a very different French accent than "American". I am glad to hear it because avoiding American stereotypes is one of my goals while out here. On the contrary I feel that I am making a good name for Americans because people have already decided that I am a respectable European speaking French as a 2nd language when they learn that I am actually American. I cannot stress enough to you how shocked everyone is when they learn that I am American. I guess that is a good thing.
Also, in terms of my French I am extremely satisfied because today I had an apparently very good day of language production because the mother that I met with about babysitting said she was so surprised when she learned that I had only been in France for 3 weeks because my French was so good. She said I made no mistakes! Now.... I know that that cannot possibly be the case because I am sure that my French is just ridden with little mistakes but maybe they were small enough that she didn't notice or forgot about them when she made the comment. Either way, it is always reassuring when people tell you how good you are at speaking French. On that topic my new friend Margot reaffirms that about every day that I see her, which is just something nice to say to a foreign student, something that I am going to keep in mind when I return to the USA and meet foreign students. I think I always stressed to them how good their English was, but now I am going to make sure that I say it, and not just once but whenever they are stumbling of a word or a sentence to remind them how well their doing. It makes all the difference. When you feel confident you speak better.
Fianlly I wanted to give you the update you've all been waiting for: barbie's arm is still there. Tomorrow marks the 3 week anniversary - did anyone bring the party hats? Oh, and speaking of walking (since that is what I do when I observe barbie's arm everyday) I officially bought a monthly bus pass because I wanted to try it for one month for two reasons. Firstly to encourage me to do some weekend traveling/sightseeing around Le Havre and the nearby towns, but also because If you want to go anywhere for a day the minimum you are going to spend is 3€ to buy the two tickets necessary (there and back). Whereas with the student price I only pay 24€ for the entire month so I can take the bus everyday, multiple times a day, and commute quicker, carry groceries in comfort, and see more locations without feeling guilty because I am saving myself so much money. Unfortunately the pass is not a month from when you buy it and is a set month so mine doesn't start until October 1st, but I am so excited! Also I will appreciate a bus ride when it gets cold (not that it is nice and warm now) but when it gets even colder and more miserable in Le Havre I will be grateful for my pass.
Anyway, I am going to bed now because I want to try to get to bed early enough that I can encourage my body towards recovery.
Today is a 95 I decided. Originally I was thinking 100 because I was having a good French day and I got to sleep in and I had fun, etc, but then I remembered my cold so I decided that 95 was more appropriate.
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