Dirty Dancing, Wonderful Men, and a Happy Thanksgiving

Bonjour tout le monde ! (Hello everyone!)

So I find that every since my return in France, life consists of late nights, early morning, and long days of WORK WORK WORK.  I have come to the conclusion that no matter how much passion you have for a particular subject, the work and the stress still manage to find you somehow, someway.  Perhaps it's just a quality of school in general.

In other news, I'm convinced that it's official.  Sophie, my strange and special landlord, has committed to having an actual boyfriend.   Now longer does she "entertain" in her room approximately three nights a week, but now entertains her "man-friend"  EVERY NIGHT.  The events are as follows:  André arrives at the apartment at 7:15 sharp, let's himself in with his OWN pair of keys, Sophie makes them both dinner, SILENCE, he leaves at 6:30am in the morning and loudly closes the door, I get up around 7:30am only to find a bottle of wine in the garbage can and his name bowl marked "André" dirtied in the sink.  (A thing about Name Bowls in the region of Brittany.  It is tradition that every member of the family have a small white and blue bowl with their name written on the outside.  These bowls are usually set out the night before so that when everyone eats breakfast in the early morning, everyone is sure to have their own bowl in which they can drink their tea, coffee, or cereal.)  André now has his own bowl.  This is huge.

Last Thursday night, Benoit Jego (the other Benoit) and I decided to spend the evening in Pornic with Benoit.  We had at first planned on going to the casino; however instead, we cooked turkey filets in a mushroom cream sauce accompanied by a bottle of strong red bordeaux wine, chocolate mousse, and the movie Dirty Dancing.  French men, I am convinced, are much more open to the fact that sometimes, chick flicks CAN be great movies to watch for both sexes!  I was quite amused while listening to their analysis of Patrick Swazy and 80's dress.

Benoit (my Benoit) continues to surprise me everyday by the manner in which he treats me.  With all of the stress of school, final exams, speaking French, and other things (yes, Mom I have to admit that I think about you everyday but that doesn't prohibit me from working hard in my school work, so don't worry!) I have the tendency, more often than not, to close myself off and be rather moody.  Okay, VERY moody.  And what is Benoit's reaction?  First he takes me strong in his arms, hugs me, makes up excuses to why I am acting this way (usually that I am under so much stress right now that my behavior is completely normal), asks if he can help in any way possible, and then comforts me in saying that everything is going to be ok.  Ummm....do we all have to cross the ocean to find a love like this? :)

Last Saturday evening, we celebrated the infamous American holiday of Thanksgiving!  Benoit and I spent all afternoon cooking and cleaning and exactly at 8:30pm sharp, our four other guests arrived.  We had champagne and Budweiser beer (a sort of oxymoron I know--but we wanted it to be Thanksgiving a little bit "à la français") with a veggie tray, homemade dipping sauce, pistachios, and pretzels for the aperatif and then around 9:30pm we sat down to dinner.  We served a savory pumpkin  mousse in a light cream sauce as an appetizer, a stuffed chicken (turkey season in France isn't until Decembre and ironically, their Christmas meat is a whole turkey) with Namestka stuffing and mashed sweet potatoes, and finally my Mom's famous apple and pecan pie for dessert!  Everyone said that it was absolutely delicious, however, they had never had such a big/consistant meal in their lives!

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving in France:

We had to keep the Namestka tradition alive.

Left to Right: Benoit, Anne-Laure, Romain, Priscille, Benoit, and me 

This time, we all did our best impression of a "stuffed turkey"

American cuisine, French wine, German hard alcohol, and great times were had by all!  Everyone cannot wait for next year! :)

Luckily, Benoit and I don't have to wait until next year to celebrate.  This Saturday, we are having Thanksgiving lunch at Benoit's parents house.  I swear the French are just FASCINATED by the fact and how we celebrate such a tradition.  I am going over to Benoit's parents house early in the morning Saturday to help his mom cook, this time, à l'américaine!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!  I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL.  HAVE SOME TURKEY, 7-LAYER SALAD, CARAMELIZED SWEET POTATOES, COLESLAW, MASHED POTATOES, PUMPKIN PIE, NUT ROLL, STUFFED CABBAGE, and DEVILED EGGS for me! :)