the show must go on

In my elementary school, we are currently rehearsing for an International Day show of epic proportions. Each class in grades 1-4 has been focusing on one country of study in Social Studies from mid-April, which will culminate with a dance show performed by students for parents on May 28th. Well, at least that's what it was a few weeks ago.

As of the last few weeks, the show seems to be getting more press and interest, so we may not only have parents on May 28th, but we might also have newspaper photographers, dignitaries or representatives from embassies, officials from the Ministry of Education, President Obama...just kidding about that last one. The event is growing larger and larger though, and I hope that my little kiddos are up for it! We are not supposed to tell them about the growing number of people that will be attending, but I don't know if it's worse for them to be surprised.

My (1A's) class song is "Be Our Guest" from the Disney movie Beauty & The Beast. I chose it because it's lively and the kids are familiar with the words and tune. I've been fretting a bit about whether or not we'll be ready to perform in this extravaganza in (EEK!) less than two weeks, but I've realized that no one will actually care how synced all of their steps are. They're cute kids in matching dresses, singing something that has to do with France, and everyone will love them anyway. It will be nice if they aren't paralyzed with stage fright.

There have been a lot of pieces to this puzzle, including actually teaching them about France, having a tailor to individually measure each student and make their dresses, buying accessories (including matching shoes), choosing a hairstyle/song/dance steps, and sending home lots of those "Please send 10kd for this or that" notes. Our secretary is a saint and the one ultimately organizing the show and serving as the liaison to the school's directors.

 Posted throughout are a few pictures from rehearsal the other day. We're practicing on the ES playground, but we also practice on the stage in our auditorium, which is where the show will be held.

More updates on my sanity and our sure success will follow!
(p.s. If I'm not in the States by my anticipated date of June 18th, someone should come looking...)

What are my thoughts on Paris?

Gosh, so I never finished posting about France. A lot of times I think, "Wow, I should really do that," but as one can see, that hasn't happened. Time to give a concise answer to the question, "What did you think of France?"

First, the weather was amazing. Although my sinuses suffered a little from it, I loved the snow and the 35F and below temperatures (around 1C).
Second, the sights and lights are gorgeous at night, especially because it was the Christmas season. I suppose there's a reason for calling it the City of Lights.
Third, the food (and coffee, because that's its own food group) was delightful. I was particularly fond of fresh French baguettes, Camembert cheese, Chardonnay, and cured ham. And, that's solely what I ate for breakfast and dinner one day, minus the wine.
Fourth, the public transportation is cheap, clean, and easy to navigate, albeit fairly crowded at night.
Finally, the city's architecture has an aesthetically pleasing blend of medieval and modern styles, due to the rich history and preservation of many areas.

All and all, it's a place worth going at least once. Because it's Western Europe, the cost factor comes into play when thinking about a vacation there. It's certainly not the cheapest place to travel, but for a week in a nice (for Paris) hotel, visiting most of the tourist spots, transportation, food, and splurging on a few gift items, I spent less than 300Euros (not including airfare). All that to say, I loved it!

What did I do In Paris?

Well, I definitely ate a lot of bread and cheese. I didn't have too much wine, but it was nice knowing that I could have if I wanted it.

People like lists, right? They're easier to read than narrative and certainly do the job of getting out information in a short amount of time. So, here's a list (though not exhaustive) of the places we went to or saw and activities that we did. First, we stayed in a great little neighborhood in the 16th arrondisment, at the "Hotel Auteuil Tour Eiffel." We also saw:

The Eiffel Tower
Different parts of the Seine River
Les Cars Rouge (red bus tour like in London)
the École Militaire
Église de la Madeleine (a church where we saw an orchestra & choral concert)
Boulevard Haussmann (window shopping)
Rue Royale (window shopping)
Galeries Lafayette (amazing, gigantic department store)
Place Saint-Michel
Notre Dame Cathedral
Hotel de Ville
Bazar Hotel de Ville (odds & ends department store and cafe)
Avenue de l'Opéra, Paris Opéra (formerly the National Academy of Music)
The Louvre Museum and Tuileries Gardens
Place de la Concorde
Champs-Élysées, Christmas markets up to the Arc de Triomphe
Sacré-Cœur basilica in Montmartre
Red Wheelbarrow Book Store (and numerous other boutique shops)
MANY patisseries, bistros, and yes, Starbucks
the Château at Versailles

We spent a lot of our time just walking around and looking at things, because the city was so beautifully decorated for the holidays. One day, we tried to go to the menagerie and gardens in the Latin Quarter, but it was closed because of ice; we went from one weather extreme to the other!

Next Questions:
What did I think?
What was my overall impression/experience?

Why did I go to Paris?

Let me start by saying that Paris is one of the most interesting cities that I've traveled through, but keep in mind that I was there during the Christmas season. That means the weather was cold, extra city decorations were abundant, and people were generally more busy because of preparing for the holidays. With that said, I had a truly amazing trip.

One reason Paris was so exciting is because I like the comfortable amenities of the western world. Yes, I can deal with squatty toilets, among other things, but there's just something so nice about clean public restrooms! On to the real stuff...

As part of my school year, I have more than two weeks off for a winter break. This year, our vacation was from December 18th- January 4th. (It was rough going back today.) Because Chris teaches at the university level, his vacation schedule is different and we only have national holidays off at the same time. Since we couldn't travel together and I was craving all things Christmas without the possibility of going to the States, we agreed that I could travel with one of my friends to somewhere that had snow, cold weather, Christmas lights, Christmas celebrations, and good sights. With the idea of Western Europe in my head, I mentioned it to my friend some time at the end of October, and Darlene and I devised a plan.

I booked our flight, and after settling on a hotel, we had reservations through the morning of the 24th. *Note: At this point in time, I was not aware that Turkish Airlines is notorious for mishandling baggage, so when we experienced the suitcase debacle, I was somewhat surprised.* Each of our flights was delayed at least two hours due to weather and one other problem, and we had a connection in Istanbul both ways; that made for lots of good airport reading time. In instances such as those, I have to remind myself, "Better late than dead." I can say that I wasn't thrilled to be stuck in an airport on my 4th anniversary- especially without my husband.

"You left Chris on your anniversary?" you may ask. Yes; however, we spent a good amount of time together beforehand and went out the day before I left. I made sure that even if I had missed an entire flight, I should have been able to make it home before Christmas. Indeed, I arrived in Kuwait at 3am Christmas Day, stopped at the grocery store by 4am, was home wrapping presents by 5am, and hit the pillow around 5:30am. My wonderful husband made French Toast (I think a coincidence) for us at around 11am on Christmas morning.

Next Question:
What did I do in Paris?

Pictures from Paris

Here's a preview of what I did...
Christmas in Paris