Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving comes early to France


It was a potluck dinner so each of us got something to the table and it was fantastic ! And just so that i could eat too they all made vegitarian dishes and just one dish of meat for them all to share...it was extremely nice of them. the food was amazing and the desserts were over the top ! we had 5 varieties of cakes and fruit salads and puddings too..:) overall a great evening..
Dinner at Dasha 's house :)



 
 
 






we go to Besancon for the day...

with our lung scans! look! mine is scarily small!

we went there for our medical check up. for visa purposes. and ended up spending the whole day.10 mins thts over and we done by 10.30. after tht we hung out with the assistants from other regions near Besancon till 4.30...
it was nice..breakfast went to a cafe..i asked for coffee and forgot to mention cafe au lait "with milk"...so i got a shot of espresso...but i surprisingly could get it down...had lunch at this lil french restaurant...had pasta and cheese....which was yum...and then we walked around...visited the citadel there...then in the evening went to "salon de the"...tea and pastry shop...
had juice and a chocolate croissant..and we were talking lost track of time..then had to run to the station!

me and dasha with the other assistants
citadel de Besancon

Dinner at Louise's on the 15th of November.

i made fried capsicum..quick and easy and yum ! eat it with salt and pepper..louise made a vegitable broth..real filling and lina got dessert..:D
Dinner at Louise's with Lina

Lina et Moi

an Eclair , a Tiramisu and a Mirangue




Sunday, November 13, 2011

My long Weekend


The 10th Well my cycle was stolen..:( or rather Victorine s cycle was stolen…I left it at the school I work and it was locked ..and when I came back 2 hrs later it was gone…well I walked around the whole area looking and I even informed the school and the security lady said she ll make enquiries on Monday when it reopens. And I cried cuz I felt even worse it was not mine…I walked to the police station to file a report and then called vic from there to tell her…she reassured me that it was not a problem at all. She was very nice about it said that it happens all the time…they had lost 3 bikes already. And that its just a bike and nothing serious has happened…but then im sure it must have been a lil expensive…it had gears and everything..:( I asked her details about the bike to tell the police and she said not to cuz then ill just spend 3 hrs with them giving details and they ll never find a cycle…and that I should just come to her house…so then I walked to her house….and talked to them some more….and they joked about how now ill have to cancel my Italy trip because ill have to pay them for the cycle…then they said they  have another one and i can use tht now. I said no thanks ! no more cycles for me! Ill just walk. I miss tht cycle though…
Well after that the rest of the week has been fairly good…
On 11th I had lunch at  Dani s place. the spanish assistant.he is the only other assistant who is in belfort for this weekend. everyone has gone to swiss or other places...so he made rice and omlette and fried banana then for dessert some kind or fruit confecture.. with bread. Yum!
i also tasted this yum olive which was pickled..
and im going back to his place for dinner..my turn to cook this time.
12th nov

Alu ka Paratha and Raitha !

 
   

So yesterday was a hit...
dasha and jesus joined me and Dani for dinner so i cooked for 4.....
the alu parathas came out awesome...though for me it was not at all spicy the others loved it....!
and the other 2 had been to swiss for the day they came back with dessert for us...chocolate mousse and marshmellow from thr...awesome stuff....we drank tea and chatted tiil 11.30..then i came home and watched a movie till 3.30.
a tamil movie!! suriya !! :D Aadhavan….
today lunch was at dani s again...he cooked tortillas for the 4 of us !spanish tortilla is diff from mexican which we get at taco bell and all...and its super good.
and u know wot for dessert...he melted chocolate and we cut up bananas orange kiwi and apple..and we had fruit with chocolate fondue!! it was sooo awesome. ppl here are big on dessert and they do such creative things in such a simple manner.
dinner is again thr..and this time dasha is cooking....i don know wot...
we just came back from grocery shopping for tomoro.
we going up the mountain..
dinner at dani’s was awesome..dasha made stuffed capsicum! It was brilliant…it has a very complicated Russian name….inside was vegetable and rice….with a tomato and capsicum sauce..

Dani's awesome chocolate fondue with fruits





Dasha s stuffed capsicum with a very complicated russian name i cant remember

13th
my day was ok....so last night i was up till 2.30 making roti and cutting onions for today to take up the hill.
then we are at the bus stop....and thr is another stand on the opp side of the road....our bus comes....to tht side...and before we can cross the road he just leaves cuz thr is no one thr...and its a sun so a bus in every 4 hrs...so we cancelled mountain plan and went to lake malsaucy...which is 8 km from belfort...we walked till thr and walked back.
the walk was super tiring...but it was beautiful all the way...
we get thr and then Dani says "kerstin was right ! she was not kidding. there is no water here"
its a beach...in summer ppl come here and laze in the sand...but its called "lake malsaucy"...and thr is no water "in winter "!
it was very bizzare....
and it was freezing !! today was too cold...most of the day my hands were numb. and my face. thankfully i had my thermos flask with hot chocolate....and that spicy tomato chutney and onion and steamed corn roti roll I packed for lunch really warmed my stomach...
only one other guy could eat it. the other 2 took a bite and said it was too spicy...lol...i made them taste hajmola too!! the expression on their face!! ROFLMAO hilarious! lol...!
so we hung abt eating and drinking and thr was this play ground and we all played for a while...
then we went to the train station and nobody was thr..its a like a small village and sunday is desolate...so a train passed and we all said bye bye to everyone in it..lol...
no trains running to belfort tht day no busses either. so walk back all the way..
finally we found civilization and a bus stop with a bus an hour later...we had a choice to walk 4 km or wait an hour..we decided to crash at a nearby cafe in the warmth...ate some fries..and then caught the bus...went to dasha s place..drank some tea and i fell asleep on her bed. then i came awake cuz i got a call from my neighbour....with real bad news...
my landlord passed away the previous weeka nd we got to know today. Bernard..the old man i told u guys right he lives in the mountains and had invited me to his place ..well the whole of this week ive been trying to call him to tell im free and id like to come up to visit him. lil did i know. i feel bad..he was so sweet. and then i kept trying to call him to tell ive transfered the money to his account and all and no reply. sso i immediately came back home and his daughter and her husband came to each of our houses to assure us tht we wont have to leave and all but there is some paperwork to be done and we ll have to send money next month to some other acc and all...
so thts my day..tomoro im just going to sit at home because ive been sutthifying too much the past 3 days…
and by the way to everyone else…my Christmas vacations have been planned tickets bought…
I leave for Italy on the 17th of Dec..1 day in Milan, 2 days in Venice, 3 days in Florence half a day at Pisa, 1 day Sienna, 4 days in Rome and 3 days in Tuscany at my friends place J and I come back to france with her on the 2nd of Jan.
I am really excited about it!! Feels like a dream…:D
And this time I wont be going alone…there are a bunch of indian girls who want to join me and also another assistant from Belfort itself who s coming with me so im happy J
Ill tell you guys more when it planned better and I have all details.
Ciao!




on the way to lac de Malsaucy


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Dinner at Stephanie's


 
 





Hello !
today was nice...i went grocery shopping in the morning..
the rest of the assistants weent ice skating! ill go with them next time  :) well the evening was very very pleasant..
Dasha and i had been invited by one of the teachers to her home for dinner with her family.
stephanie has a nicest cosiest home ever ! her husband is very sweet and the kids are the cutest! louise and theophile...4 and 5 :)
oh my god adorable..:) and theo the boy was very excited to see me because he thought i would be wearing feathers...u know as in "red indian "....lol...i din know if i shud be amused or insulted...i went with amused...
they have a fireplace! :D and the whole house is very woodsy and eclectic...a lil stone here and there...pictures evrywhere...
homelike...reached at 7..were eating tortillas and dip and some other appetizers with anchovies(fish i think) for the others..they said we just had to taste the fine wine they got just for us..devastated when we said we don drink..they said but u have to taste it ..a lil at least b4 saying no..they looked so sad i said sure ill taste a lil. white wine. nasty stuff. but less nasty then red wine.
and dinner was potatoes with cheese fondue kind of dish...pretty good and they had pork saussages and i had veg saussage (soya).. :)  and a salad of course...
then she got out the dessert she d made specially..showed us the recipe..looked complicated...it was yum ! slathered in some king of raspberry+strawberry+blueberry syrup....
by then the kids were feasting on the chocolate box...and we all tasted some..and then we had some " Limonade" which is btw not lemonade. :D its like limca except much lesser fizz. its soda with lime in it.
and then we all  played card games with the kids...."dringo" some lame game but they loved it..lol:) there is a buzzer to hit..so obvi they were on a high....
then it was the kids "bed time" :) so they came gave us kisses and lent their cheeks for us to kiss...its so adorable
and off they go. we 4 sat chatting till 11.30 abt our countries....and the places we ve seen...they showed us photos from their trip to mexico b4 the kids came along....so many questions abt india...usual ones...
showed me DVD s of all teh indian movies they ve seen...they have DEVDAS in french ! :D ive borrowed it...to laugh at for tomoro!
well then she dropped me back home...:)
and you know what ...they dont do any work half heartedly...or incomplete you know...she dropped me and was on her way..i tried to open my door and it was kinda stuck...but i thought she d gone by then..but she parks her car and comes back to see if she can help...i don think i would ever invite someone to my home like this...and if i did in my head id already be doing them a huge favour so would not even think about transaport services.....but now i think i will...i dont know im rambling....
maybe its all normal...

PS: in the process of planning Italy for Chrsitmas and Paris for the coming long 4 day weekend ! :D

well there was my day for you...
ill keep the updates coming

love
aishu