Tonight on What the Hell Did You Have For Dinner?

Living alone means no one judging me while I prepare dinner. This has resulted in several cooking catastrophes, including my repeated attempts to caramelize onions that usually just end up making me sick to my stomach. But recently I bought a (relatively cheap) stew/casserole thing specifically to make one dish, and this has brought out some kitchen creativity in me. A summery:

Friday night's poulet au cidre/chicken with cider: HUGE SUCCESS! Deliciousssssss
Sunday night's sushi: need to cook that rice better. Apparently not everything in that casserole ends up tasting like heaven.
Tonight (Tuesday night)'s...shallot/lardon/zucchini with homemade "breadcrumbs": surprisingly edible. Especially sandwiched between leftover sushi and 4 day old salad. Sadly, I now have enough dishes to wash to keep me occupied all night.

Still, these experiments give me hope. Hope that one day I will know how to cook more than just taking what I have and throwing it into a frying pan together.

And this is Caitlin, the American!

It's been a while since the last time I was introduced as "the American" in such blunt terms. But hey, these things happen. And there are worse places than at a huge birthday bash when you meet probably over 20 people over the course of one night. Because it helps explain your less-than-enthusiastic dancing to all those French songs from the 80s.

France painted in autumn

So this is the first time I've ever been in France during the fall. I've done winter, spring, summer...never fall. And let me tell you, if I thought France was beautiful before, it's nothing compared to what I think now. I've always liked fall, but it's never been a season that I would call the most beautiful. But when I mentioned to a teammate this weekend that I had never seen France in the fall, he replied, "well, this is it's most beautiful season, don't you agree?" And I do.

This season has possibly made such an impression on me because I've done so much traveling during it. I've spent at least 5 hours in transit to various places every weekend, with the highest total coming to around 15 hours in 3 days. So I've seen a lot of scenery. And it's like a gorgeous painting that never ends. It's helped by the fact that the French countryside about a 20 minute drive from most cities looks like it's still in the Middle Ages. On cloudy days it makes me feel like the Apocalypse happened.

Oh, and making out while standing in the Mediterranean with the sun shining down on you is possibly one of the most romantic things I've ever done. Minus, you know, making out underneath the Eiffel Tower.

What is the United States made of?

Just finished my first week of teaching! And now I'm on vacation, because this job is awesome. For the moment, I leave you with some of the best questions I was asked by the French kiddies this week:

What is the US made of? Like...brick? Or wood?
Could you not have taken a bus to get here?
Do you have candy in the US? What color is it?
And my personal favorite: Are there toilets in the US?

Back in France!

So I made it back to France. After way too much time in an embassy waiting room, packing stress, and annoying airport security, I landed safe and sound in Lyon almost 3 weeks ago. About a week and a half ago, I moved to Clermont-Ferrand for my orientation. Next Tuesday, I officially begin as an English language teacher (teaching assistant, technically, but I'm really going to be for realz teaching).

Here's a brief resume of the past 3 weeks:
I have played 2 ultimate tournaments and will play a 3rd next weekend.
I have a place to live! Which might be about 10 square meters. I move in this week, but meanwhile...
I live with French frisbee friends! Who are adorable and make me dinner and drive me places.
I eat McDonald's and ride trams and wish people would stop smoking on me.