Empanadas-Muy Bien!

I have spent the entire day hiding under my bed covers afraid to face the sunlight.  I am sick.

Licking the spoons :)

My feeling sick is honestly a mix of illness and a hangover from last night.  I went to bed at 4:30AM after drinking a lot of wine, it is my fault. Tea is the only thing getting me through the day :/ 
Yesterday I was chipper, running around making empanadas for Sabrina's birthday.  It was my first time making empanadas, so it was fun work! I did not have the same skills as Sabrina when sealing the pastries shut, but the tasted delicious all the same.

EMPANADAS!

I had two couchsurfers staying over as well, which were a great help to the production line. It was interesting comparing everyone's empanada sealing technique, however.  Howard was a couchsurfer from Taiwan, so his empanadas looked like dumplings. 

Pilar and Sabrina

The empanadas I pinched shut looked suspiciously like raviolis. Pilar was the other couchsurfer, originally from Argentina like Sabrina, so they were expert chefs! We made beef, tuna, and corn empanadas, so delicious!
I love food because it brings people together and reveals so much about our individual cultures. What better way to share a Saturday than some collective cooking?

Sabrina's birthday was a good way to end a nice two-week vacation.  I am ready to return to work, but I will miss the lazy mornings and late nights.  Here is a great picture of my housemates and I from last night.  Joyeux Anniversaire! Feliz Cumpleaños! Happy Birthday!

Thomas, Etienne, Sabrina, myself, and Annie

"Do you have any advice for those of us just starting out?"

"Do you have any advice for those of us just starting out?"

Ron Koertge

Fever, 2006

Give up sitting dutifully as your desk. Leave

your house or apartment.  Go out into the world.

It's all right to carry a notebook but a cheap

one is best, with pages the color of weak tea

and on the front a kitten or a spaceship.

Avoid any enclosed space where more than

three people are wearing turtlenecks.  Beware

any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks

across the muffled tennis courts.

Not surprisingly, libraries are a good place to write.

And the perfect place in a library is near an aisle

where a child a year or two old is playing as his

mother browses the ranks of the dead.

Often he will pull books from the bottom shelf.

The title, the author's name, the brooding photo

on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray

book on brown, he builds a tower. And the higher

it gets, the wider he grins.

You who asked for advice, listen: When the tower

falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody

in the world frowns and says, "shhhh."

Then start again.

I guess I'm Just Feeling Autumnish

One of the main squares in Brussels

It officially feels like Autumn here :) The weather is chilly, my heat is turned on, I cook squash at least once a week, and I have a constant desire to drink tea or hot cocoa.  The scent of chestnuts lingers in the kitchen, as one of us is inevitably cooking them up for a snack.  I have a pile of leaves that blow through the door with me if the mistral is picking up and I live in my LL Bean slippers.  In many ways it feels like the Autumn I know from the US, but one bonus about the south of France is the sun.  In the North East, we get cold weather and each day it creeps closer to Christmas it also gets darker and grayer.  In Avignon, our time change hit a week earlier, so sunset is around 7PM, but I expect to have a lot of sunlight come the holidays.

Two weekends ago I was in Brussels, which was a different change from Avignon.  It was damp, but warmer than the south.  It is amazing how wind can make everything feel colder!  I was working Megavino with some other Finger Lakes and New York State representatives.  Megavino was an interesting experience, and after the long weekend I was exhausted of explaining that New State ≠ New York City.  A countless number of people asked me if we grew grape vines atop apartment buildings in New York City, *sigh*. I did get to spend some time seeing who else was attending the exposition and I got to taste some wines from all over the place: Slovenia, Hungary, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, and South Africa.  There were other countries present, but I could not taste everything :) I had some delicious meals and a comfortable hotel room as compensation for working the show.  Of all the things I tried, I made sure to try horse meat while I was in Belgium.  Many people would probably beat me over the head for eating it, but it is a cultural staple in Belgium.  In all honesty, it tasted like beef.  I do not particularly love beef, so I do not have a burning desire to eat horse in the next year.  Here is an interesting article on the history of horse meat. If you enjoy beef, you would probably love horse.

Sasha and I with our Belgian beers!

While in Brussels I did seek out some chocolate.  I bought a cup of hot chocolate for my lunch and I invested in chocolates for Christmas. I bought the chocolates from Pierre Marcolini a well-known chocolatier in Belgium.  Supposedly they have won for best chocolate in Belgium a few years in a row.  After my taste test, I can see why–delicious!

I returned from Brussels to finish out my week teaching about Halloween.  I read The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything eleven times.  By the time my last class heard the story, I was nearly reciting it by memory! I should thank my mom for mailing me the book along with some Halloween stickers that I handed out.  I now have off until November 12 because of Toussaint vacation. It is a two-week break from school to celebrate Toussaint (All Saints Day).  I do not mind the break as it is allowing me to get settled into my home and Avignon. I can just meander the streets and nearby Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon without worrying about work.  I suppose next week I will think more about lesson planning, but for now I will relish in the sunshine and abundance of pastries available to me in France!

Tomorrow will surely be a lazy day and I am just awaiting my next tutoring session so I can buy a charger for my camera.  Someday soon I will have pictures from Avignon and my local visits to share!

Because some people just Can't Speak French...