La Vie Continue

After those fantastic travel narratives, a small post about ma vie quotidienne seems rather quaint, but there honestly hasn’t been too much happening lately. One reason is that I and the other assistants are now settled into our jobs and know what to expect: which classes require extra preparation, which ones you need to guide with a firm hand, which ones the teacher will probably mess up on scheduling and you’ll have to start something from scratch. Another reason is that les vacances d’hiver (February vacation) are fast approaching so people are trying to save their money for that. I’ll be going to Germany with some of my housemates and then to the South of France for some relaxation and sight-seeing. Other assistants are going to Morocco, Sweden, and other far-flung places as our time in France starts drawing to a close.

Last weekend, I met up with some other assistants at a party on Friday. A good time was had by all, but comme d’habitude (as usual) we had to head out before midnight to catch the last bus up the mountain. Saturday was quite pleasant, and on Sunday I had the chance to sing at la Cathédrale de Metz. The diocese had dedicated the mass to raising relief funds for victims of the earthquake in Haiti and to help Haitians in the area (students, families) who had lost loved ones. Our chef de choeur became ill on Saturday and we had some logistical problems, but overall it was an amazing experience. I certainly never expected to be singing a gospel version of Kumbaya in a 13th century cathedral! We’ll be putting on a few more concerts before I leave at the end of April and then it’ll be wedding season – the choir is already booked for three. In general, parishioners seem very happy to welcome us to their churches but still aren’t sure what to do about gospel music. Thankfully, the leaders of the choir have gotten used to explaining the meaning behind the songs in French and how they relate to the readings of the day. At first glance, I thought that French reluctance to embrace the genre was due to demographics: the vast majority of French parishioners are over the age of 50. While the Vatican II reforms helped to keep Catholicism alive in America, most French are proudly secular and so the remaining devout Catholics are quite conservative. Some churches are trying to stimulate more interest from the youth and have requested our presence as a way to show la jeunesse francaise that the Catholic Church needn’t die with their grandparents. A few weeks later I realized that another factor was contributing to the unease: we usually sang one song in English and another in Zulu while the others were in French. I will admit that the legendary French preference for their own language is true, but think about it: how would most US church-goers react if a quarter of the songs were in other languages? Some would be intrigued, but others would probably be less than thrilled.

Moving on, I’ve kept hanging out with some of my new international friends. L, a young woman from Spain and J, a German, are in my conversation class on Tuesday nights. My German colocataire S usually meets friends afterwards and always offers to take us with her. While she and another German assistant discussed their vacation plans, I chatted with L and J about the education systems in their respective countries and how they found life in France. L missed the color and sunshine of her native land, while J wished that service was more reliable here. I wholeheartedly agree on both counts. Furthermore, I’m improving my Spanish by talking with P, a friend of my roommate A from Nicaragua. P is from northern Spain and sometimes her accent is difficult for me to understand, but we usually understand each other. P also speaks English along with French and many other languages so I can substitute a word into a sentence and she translates later.

I received some information requests from the Peace Corps, which means they’re considering my file, and have been trying to keep up with friends swamped with schoolwork. I’ll miss France, but I’m excited to see my friends and family again and to return to warmer weather!