Easter in Cambrai

Hello, all!

We've been doing Eastery things all day: an egg hunt for chocolate eggs, scrambled eggs from the eggs that Cata and I blew the insides out of so that we could dye them with the dye kit that Anna acquired, lots and lots of chocolate in general. I'm in the process of making a fruit salad and a big bowl of stuffing for the Easter dinner tonight, but the others have gone to MacDonald's for the second time today, so I have a free moment to write. We've got a rental car for the weekend and we're trying to make the most of it: last night we went late-night bowling in Douai, and tomorrow we're going to the Asterix Park for Easter Monday (I will avoid the roller coasters). But there's a sure sign Cambrai is moving up in the world. Not only have we got a MacDonald's (Macdo for the French), we recently acquired a Domino's. The delivery people zip around on their scooters and introduce the French to the height of American pizza, or something. Personally, I yearn now and again for Eureka, or for the fried tofu at Chuong Garden, or for any Mexican food at all, but I don't care about having a Domino's around, except as a status symbol. Take that, Paris! Maybe we'll get a Starbucks too! Except for the fact that we won't, and that's all right: everyone who lives here is resigned to the diminished importance of Cambrai, once the jewel of the Spanish Netherlands.

I've been uploading more photos and forgetting to tell you all about them, so there are some here of my visit to Paris on Tuesday, and here you can see more of England and Sweden.

I can't believe it's the last week. I can't believe my last week is a short week: no one works Easter Monday, and so I've only got Thursday and Friday. I'm going to bake cookies for my kids on Wednesday night, and maybe make a chocolate pie for the teachers' lounge. All the profs are stressed, because they've had conferences all last week that lasted until nine every night. Virginie just remembered some things she wanted me to do earlier and now there's not really time. Romain remembered that next week is my last week and that was both nice (that he knows when I'm going, and he knew when my birthday was) and sad, because it reminded me that I'm leaving so soon. I'll miss him, the beau gosse of the teacher's room, because he's a sweetheart, and he's really funny. And I'll miss the English teachers, of course: Virginie, to whom I belong, and Marie-Claude, who thought I should flirt with Gautier because it was Valentine's Day, and Veronique, who was sweet but not always communicative, and Severine, whom I almost never saw because she was off on maternity leave. The older man whose name I don't actually know who gives me mixtapes and talks to me about astronomy and local history. Adrien, who I talked to all day on Thursdays. Nathalie and Marie-the-sports-teacher, with whom I talked India and France. Marie-Celine, who was always frustrated that the naughty boys remembered my name and not hers, though I only came to class once.

It should be a fun last week though. I get to cancel one of my classes with my least favorite group of seconde to have a party with Marie-Claude's naughty boys, who are going to bring things to eat. It's the last round of football at Fenelon (for us) and Cata's making empanadas for everyone. I really ought to go to the lace museum in Caudry. At least I've eaten a croissant and bought a shirt with some French on it. My goals for France are accomplished.

Life will go on while I'm not in Cambrai. Next year the premiere and the seconde will have another assistant, probably, and maybe they'll behave better or maybe they'll behave worse with him or her. I'm kind of possessively pleased that Virgil and Astrid won't have any other assistant: they'll graduate and move on and do other things. So it goes.

Oh man, and now I have to start packing. How to clear up the detritus of half a year in another country? We've made the little white house our home. I've got papers and clothes and all sorts of things to range away or throw away.

Anyway, happy Easter to everyone!