Every week gets a bit easier

So I'm doing better. This week was a lot better than previous weeks. I realized I have to get out of the house early or I get super bummed out quick. Refreshing facebook for hours at a time when everyone back home is asleep and everyone in France is busy is NOT productive.

I've been to Ikea 3 times this week...and I can't say that I am against that.

I need to sleep more, I am not a morning person and I need to start going to bed at a reasonable enough hour that I'm not so groggy. Teaching and being mentally out of it is NOT a good combination.

I had a TERRIBLE class on Wednesday. The kids just STARED at me and didn't understand anything I said nor did they want to. I started with working on the document their teacher gave them....which they did not respond to so I was like OOOK how about...we do halloween?....*me going on my halloween lesson schpeel*...silence...stereotypes? music? movies? speak to me in french and i will translate...SOMETHING! UGH. Horrible.

My favorite class is the 21-24 year old boys. They were the most responsive and excited to be there. Granted all they do is sit there and make flirtatious comments to me....BUT at least they speak english and are attentive to me so I don't feel like I'm just wasting time. The door broke while we were in class and we got locked in and they freaked out. It was hilarious and chaotic.

Today was cool because I got to watch this arabic band play for an English class. It was really amazing and I'm glad I was there for it!

I also went to a tango lesson tonight, that was of course completely in French...and I understood most of what was going on...HOLLA. Some of the guys tried to explain things to me but I had NO idea what they were saying. One guy was super annoying because he was getting mad I was having trouble with following everything. UM ok buddy, this is my third time doing tango, the first two were crappy lessons...and this lesson is in a langauge i don't get...I'm gonna say I did pretty damn well so GET OVER IT.

Afterward I checked out some Puerto Rican salsa. I went with a fellow assistant who also went to tango and he is a ballroom dancer so he was a great lead and I kind of danced with him most, which I don't mind because...like I said he was a good lead so I had good dances. I danced with this REALLY good dancer and had such a hard time following, but it wasn't the worst dance I've ever had. Then I danced with a few beginners, which I didn't mind. I feel pretty good about dancing. Puerto Rican is definitely my style. I am NOT a cuban dancer, rueda is one thing but I need musicality and breaks and style.

All in all I think the culture shock is beginning to wear off, and I'm able to accept the fact that I'm here to stay a bit better. I found an awesome open air market and got great veggies for cheap so THAT was added to my list of "things you dont find in Tucson".

However it was very cold today and I'm not sure I'm goign to handle this winter well at all...

My blog needs more pictures because I know reading and reading is BORING. So I will try and include at least one in every post from here on out (and I updated some old ones with appropriate images)
I leave you today with an image from our mall shopping adventure....