Ste. Catherine knows how to party

Today I was going to do photos of the house, but there's a faire going on in the middle of town for Ste. Catherine's day, so I think I won't instead, but expect photos next week. Big news! We bought a washing machine for la maison blanche! No more doing laundry in the tub (oh, it takes so long), no more hauling laundry to the lavamatic to do a small load for 4 Euro (especially tough after my bag broke), no more desperate wringing. No dryer, but that's fine: we have a couple of drying racks, and at least the washer spins the water out. We collectively decided that the purchase of a large appliance makes us feel like official grownups, even if the cost (split among eight people) was only about as much as a ticket to Paris with the youth discount.

I am entertained by my school schedule. Out of twelve classes that I was supposed to teach last week, I think I taught three. I was sick one of my busier days, but still, I end up teaching maybe seven out of twelve, due to classes having meetings to go to or the bad classes just outright skipping and the fact that the replacement teacher for the one who's out pregnant never remembers to send her kids to me. It's been okay lessons, though. We talked about politics a little more, about stereotypes, and about Thanksgiving. They don't really understand Thanksgiving, and it's difficult to explain. But no matter! It's really only the Americans who care. We've gotten the others excited by talking up what a fabulous dinner we're going to prepare on Saturday (given that we'll be in Lille on Thursday, and if we weren't, we'd have work). Thanks to various care packages (thanks!), we now have most of the tough-to-find ingredients for the construction of cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie and the like. I'll probably make my stuffed mushrooms again. We'll probably have a turkey. It'll be excellent. Alas, no football on in the background, but what can one do? (Tangentially, go Hogs.)

The funny thing about the fourth week angst/drama is that the drama didn't really go away, but we've all adjusted to it. So now we get cranky sometimes because we've all been around each other a little too long, but we're happy about it. I think it's because we now own two decks of regular cards and an Uno set. We've been thinking about buying Monopoly, but it's a little expensive. Things to pass the time!

It's so strange to think that this time last year I was getting ready to leave Madurai and my host family, and dreaming about home every night. It was hot and rainy and I had papers to finish and I was pining for my winter clothes. Now I have all my winter clothes and I miss my salwars and saris, and Jaya's chutney, and my bike ride home, and the SITA kids. In May, when I get home, I will have spent a year out of the past two years out of the country, and that's interesting to think about. But for now, I think I'll spend my brain power figuring out Mom's visit, potential visits to Belgium and the Netherlands and England, and various school-related things.