Peer Pressure

A limerick for my fellow assistants who so effectively chastised me for not contributing to this collective journal until now:

There once were some girls named Brie,
Megan and Kate and me
Sitting around
Drinking wine down
And so here this blog je l'ai écrit

I do not know quite what to write
Tonight we all did share a bite
I made some soup
Fed it to the group
France Friends, let's no longer fight.

Now that I've posted this poem
Y'all can now leave me alone
I promise to post
(not as often as most)
'Cause I'm glad we call Laon our home.

Thanksgiving in Soissons

Assistants in Soissons, a town about 30 minutes from Laon, generously invited us to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving celebrating with them. Though we all missed loved ones at home, it was as warm and definitely as tasty as any Thanksgiving as I've had back in the states. In total there were about 20 of us; American assistants from Laon, Soisson, Hirsonand Crapy-en-Valois, French friends, a Bolivian, Canadian, Brit, Korean, and an Irish girl. We introduced those who were new to the holiday to hand-turkeys.

Of course, we also went around to say what we were thankful for. Cliches about home, food, and friends pack more of a punch when you are working to make a new one, when traditional food is hard to come by, and your friends are the people you are depending the most on. It doesn't hurt that everything sounds more elegant in French.              

Traditional, hand-made Thanksgiving pinata