What's new in Besançon: Tomorrow is the first of two days of the Braderie d'automne, a huge fall market with more than 500 vendors. Pretty much all of the bus routes are being diverted around the c-v because of the expected traffic. I might be able to see a little bit tomorrow, but will probably miss most of it since I'm leaving at 7am Saturday morning for Lyon.
What's new at my schools: At Ecole Champagne, where I spend most of my time, the big issue of the moment surrounds a handicapped student who will be starting school after Toussaint. The controversy is sort of complicated -- no one is opposed to a handicapped student having access to the education system. First of all, it doesn't seem like the larger school system administration handled the issue very well. The teachers were informed earlier this week that this handicapped boy (I'm not exactly sure what his handicap is because I can't remember the French term they used, but he's confined to a chair and cannot move his arms or legs). He's only 6 years old and will be placed in Caroline's CP class (first grade). His family just immigrated to France from Spain and he doesn't speak any French (he speaks Catalan, not Spanish). And apparently he hasn't gone through any kind of testing or placement process, so if he has any mental handicaps, the teachers aren't prepared to deal with them. And the school isn't handicapped-friendly... there are tons of stairs everywhere. I have found so far that Besancon is less handicapped-friendly than most cities I've lived in so far in the U.S.
So why isn't he going to a more suitable school? The answer: bureaucracy. Well, that's my interpretation. Ecole Champagne is in Planoise, a neighborhood that is heavily populated by immigrants. So there are programs in many of the schools (possibly all) called CLIN -- one or more teachers whose sole responsibility is to teach French to children who recently immigrated and don't know enough French to be learning other subjects in that language. Because this boy doesn't know French, he HAS to go to a CLIN school, and all of those happen to be in Planoise, and all are equally ill-equipped to cater to a handicapped child. The further complication -- these schools are already stretched a little thin -- the classes are relatively large and the kids sometimes have stressful or complicated home situations -- their parents don't speak French, they recently immigrated, etc. So, you can see how this could come across badly. But as of this morning, the boy had been assigned by the school district, a special assistant to follow him around, which should make it a little easier for the teachers at Champagne.
At Ecole Bourgogne: tomorrow evening most of the teachers are getting together for dinner at a restaurant called Cafe des Pratiques which happens to be very near my apartment. They invited me to join and I'm excited to spend an evening with them, because at this point I know the teachers from Ecole Champagne much better and I'd like to get to know the Bourgogne teachers more.
What's new at my apartment: this morning for breakfast I ate homemade yogurt! When Charly went home this weekend he brought back the necessary unpasteurized milk and he made a batch of 8 verres (glasses) on Wednesday. Those of you who followed my emails in Morocco know how things ended up the last time I consumed unpasteurized milk products, but this time it was yogurt, not milk, and I sort of assumed that the yogurt-making process would make it safe to eat. And it worked -- no serious illness! The yogurt was delicious!! Charly added a mild vanilla flavoring and the yogurt itself was incredibly cream. Definitely the best I've ever had -- and it doesn't get any fresher than made the day before. He made another batch tonight and I took a picture of the little machine:
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but the French are obsessed with yogurt (which in French can be spelled yaourt or yoghurt). At the grocery store, there's a whole aisle dedicated to yogurt. In contrast, I had to ask someone to help me find the butter. And the milk! Usually it's unrefrigerated and at the end of some obscure aisle. But yogurt! Natural, fruit-flavored, dessert-style mousse-yogurt, you name it, they have it. And interestingly enough, it's usually eaten after lunch or dinner, not as a breakfast food. Next time I'm in the grocery store maybe I'll try to take a discreet picture...
Other points of interest: On Tuesday evening I had dinner at Magalie's house. Magalie teaches a CM2 class at Ecole Champagne (the very best of all my classes, certainly) and she invited me last week to come have a meal with her family. She has a son who is in 10th grade and a daughter who is in 7th grade (I forget their names at the moment). The son was a bit brooding but her daughter was precocious and very talkative. Charlotte, Magali's niece, also ate with us. Magali made two pizzas: one with all kinds of super French cheeses: chevre, bleu, Conté, and many others and the other with artichokes, mushrooms, and onion. They were both really yummy and we had a salad and a tarte aux mirabelles (plum tart, I think) for dessert. I got to Magalie's around 7:30-8pm and didn't get home until after midnight! Magalie wanted to talk long after we finished dinner, and I was happy to oblige, but got really quite tired by the end. I have a harder time formulating my thoughts in French late in the evening, and Tuesday had already been sort of a long day because I went for a long run before classes, taught 4 classes, then met with a family for my new tutoring job.
Yes, I finally got in touch with the woman who contacted me about tutoring -- I need to look up the French term for 'phone tag'. Anyway, I met her two daughters Tuesday after classes and they're adorable. It turns out that they too ride at Les Ecuries de Chateau-Galland (along with the daughters of the French-German couple who lives on the second floor, I'm starting to think the daughters of everyone in this town ride there). This time we just sort of chatted and got to know each other, but next time I'm going to take some books to read and maybe plan an activity. It will be interesting doing this in addition to teaching classes, because it's a different style and will require different resources. I'll let you know how it works out. The logistics worked out really well though -- they live about 8 minutes from my apartment, and right next to the bus stop where I catch/get off the bus.
Word count tells me I've already surpassed my limit, so I'm going to wrap this up. Teaching this week has been a mixed bag. Lesson #3 for all of the classes has been about Halloween and on Tuesday I had a huge flop -- the song I picked was way too complicated for the kids and I had the horrifying experience of seeing all of their blank faces staring up at me as I attempted to warble along with the tune. Not good. The teacher helped me out though, and I revised my plan for the next class. You can't win them all!
One more point to note: I noticed today on my run that the leaves have finally started to change! I hope I don't miss all the pretty fall colors while I'm in Lyon/Vienna. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures during my voyage and even more of Besançon when I get back.
A bientôt!
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