rebecca_in_blue | Rebecca loves McDonald's! A lot!

Today was extremely busy but also extremely productive – probably my best day in France so far. A new teaching assistant, Nakeisha from Jamaica, arrived just after lunch. She will actually be teaching at a middle school in a little town about fifteen mintues away, but the school there can't provide housing for her, so she will be living here. And with her was Eric, an English teacher from her school, who was not only incredibly nice but also spoke English and French fluently. After Nakeisha had seen the school, she and Eric wanted to see the town, and since I was free, I offered to show them around. I got a little disoriented in Eric's car, since I have been traveling on foot so much, but I managed to show them the way to the centre-ville, the bank, the post office, and the train station.

The best news was that Nakeisha is working under the exact same program as me, which means she will also be going to the training day in Amiens this Monday. We bought tickets at the train station so that we can travel there together; we paid for them of course – and they were cheaper than I had expected – but Eric ordered them for us. It was unbelievable how much easier everything became with someone who spoke French fluently. Nakeisha had already reserved a hotel room to spend the night in Amiens, and Eric called and reserved a room for me at the same hotel. Again, he was incredibly nice and made everything much easier. He said that he taught French in America with a similar program a few years ago, so he understood everything we were going through. I am so relieved to have all my plans for Amiens taken care of; it feels like big weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

After we bought our tickets, Eric and Nakeisha said that they hadn't eaten yet and asked me if I knew of a place we could go for lunch. I didn't, because I've been eating all my meals in the school cafeteria, but it didn't matter anyway, because it was about 3:00 in the afternoon by now. It wasn't lunch or dinner time, so all the resteraunts were closed; in France, it is almost unheard of to eat between meals. I told Eric that there was a McDonald's in town, but I didn't know where. After asking for directions several times, Eric finally found it (it is pretty far from the school, so I probably won't be eating there much). I have never been so happy to see a McDonald's. It looked and smelt and tasted so familiar that it was like taking a tiny trip back to America. It was so comforting.

After we got back to the school, I went to Nakeisha's room and we talked for a long time. Since we're with the same program, we have to go through the same red tape to get paid and apply for the carte de sejour. She asked me if I would help with her forms because, I was shocked to learn, she doesn't speak any French at all (this is why Eric was traveling with her – she would have been totally lost on her own). I don't know how in the world she was accepted into this program without speaking it, and I can't decide whether her decision to come to France was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Nakeisha said the hardest thing for her isn't the language but the weather; again, she's from Jamaica, and the weather here today was very unpleasant, wet and cold. While we were in her room, I met another assistant from Mexico. She has been here for a while, but I hadn't met her before because she and Nakeisha are living in a separate building than me and Sara. I imagine it will be very difficult for them to communicate, since Nakeisha speaks only English and the girl from Mexico (I can't remember her name now) speaks only French and Spanish. I had to translate just for them to be able to introduce themselves.

And there is still one other assistant, the one from Germany, who hasn't arrived yet. I hope that all of us will be able to eat together sometime, just to see what a confused lunch table we would make – me, from America, who speaks English and French; Sara, from China, who speaks Chinese, and some English and French; Nakeisha, from Jamaica, who speaks only English; and the assistant from Mexico, who speaks French and Spanish. Sounds interesting!

Rebecca loves McDonald's! A lot!

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