A little about my host family and the learning experience.

There is much that I have learned here in the last week and a half, not the least of which was figuring out how to lock and unlock my bedroom door with this old-fashioned key. It took me about five minutes each try for the first several days. Assane, my host cousin, kindly taught me today how to flush the toilet; this involves pouring a bucket of water into the toilet. I was overjoyed at the revelation! Basically, I'm back to being 2 again, which makes three of us in this household! Junior and Noh-Noh are two fabulous little tykes who keep our home lively, to say the least. You may note them in my new profile picture that I absolutely adore! Junior is the son of Jou-Jou, my adult host brother, and his wife whose name I'm having difficulty remembering. My host sister Melanie is mother to Noh-Noh, but her husband is currently working in Italy. I believe that I have another host sibling who is currently living in London. My cousins Assane -the toilet teacher- and Chantalle both live with us as well as the two bonnes, or maids, who go back to their homes on Sundays. One of them is called Mare but the other has a name that I have difficulty pronouncing. She's the one depicted in the photo with Noh-Noh on the upper left corner of this post. The matriarch of this whole household is my maman (host mom) Elizabethe. This is a catholic household residing in a house of two stories plus a terrace in the midst of the neighborhood of Mermoz -only a 15 minute walk from the seaside campus of Suffolk University where I take my classes. The photo above and to the right is the view from my second story room into the central courtyard. I hope to post more photos of my family as the opportunity arises. I'm still hesitant to impose myself upon them, particularly since the "inside" dress is very different from how one dresses "outside."


A view over the terrace.

This picture is from the off campus
dorms that I resided in last week. It is the first rain, and we're taking full advantage of the fact that we're not visible from this balcony. Others may have been enjoying a nice run through the rain, but I doubt they were able
to enjoy it in a sports bra!




This is Annie, my rain buddy.









This is a car rapide -a sort of public transit- that involves a guy hanging off the back and shouting the bus destination to passerbys. You knock a coin on the ceiling or side or the vehicle to signal the driver that you want to get off.