March 11, 2021

Thursday

Catherine A picked me up in her sporty little car and immediately began telling me about the outbreak of COVID threatening Charvieu. She was so blasé about the entire thing, not seeming to register that there was a deadly disease stalking the halls of her school. Mme Mille (the principal), the head secretary, a math teacher, everyone who ate lunch next to the math teacher, and many students were all either infected or contact cases.

We arrived at the school to find a crowd of teachers huddled around the table. They were all wondering allowed who among them should be considered a contact case and get tested. They argued that because they weren’t sitting directly beside the man who had the British variant they shouldn’t. Um… are they not aware that it has been suggested this variant is 56% more contagious than the original variant? I wanted to run out of the room, I felt so gross knowing that there’s going to be at least one of them that is sick and that they were just standing there doing nothing about it. You can get tests now anywhere in France. It’s not hard, you don’t even need an appointment. You just show up to the pharmacy and get one.

I relaxed in my empty classroom during my canceled first session. My second class was with Noury. We discussed Detroit and I showed them a bit of history before I gave them my Detroit sales pitch. I always feel so much better about myself after his class because he compliments my lessons and tells me what a great job I’m doing. It is so nice!

My next class was Catherine’s 5eme. They’ve been proving troublesome in the past few weeks as well. She pops in and once in a while to check on them. They’re no longer allowed to sit with their friends, instead every student sits at a desk by themselves. I have to mark at red or a green dot beside each student’s picture at the end of the day to indicate their behavior. Honestly, a pretty good system. The best one I have experienced.

My last group of the day was the 6eme. They are always a treat. We talked about national parks again. They loved hearing about all the animals that live in each park. They were shocked to learn that wolverines are an animal.

That evening, I ate with the Bodet family. Before dinner, Daniel made us all rum beverages. They were delicious and refreshing. We had colorful pasta, roasted carrots, and fried meat of some type for dinner. I thought it was a perfect meal. Now I want to buy some fresh carrots for myself this week. After dinner we sat and watched the news together.

When I went home, I got to have a call with one of my friends. It was a nice way to round out the week.