March 17, 2021

Wednesday

Another day off. This was truly a mini-weekend.

I had a slow morning around the house. I cleaned, did the dishes, and listened to some music. I drank my coffee at my desk while listening to the news and wrote some letters. I decided that I wanted to get out there and go for a walk before my tutoring gig later in the afternoon. It was a really windy day outside, so it wasn’t the most enjoyable walk that I’ve had here.

Nawel met me at the Place des Platanes in Anthon and we drove over to her house to do the tutoring lesson. I got to meet her two daughters who are 5 and 3 before their nanny took them up for a nap. Nawel and I sat at the table to chat for about two hours. We discussed COVID conditions in Algeria and our own experiences with COVID. She told me that most of her family in Africa had gotten sick last year and many suffered very severe symptoms. She told me that she was very afraid for them because hospital conditions were not good in her area.

Speaking with Nawel makes me think a lot about my own use of English. I have to choose my words very carefully and speak deliberately. I never really thought that I had a “Michigan accent” until I started working with her on her conversational English. I’ve learned that I pronounce my “A”s very strongly and often under-pronounce the ends of words like “at” or “that” by neglecting to use a hard “T” sound.

After tutoring, I had a few hours before dinner. When it was time, I walked over and at the Bodet house. Daniel was gone on a trip, so it was just Mme Bodet, her son, and me. We ate lamb chops and rice with a brown sauce. Janja spent most of the meal begging for a new phone. He complained that he had saved up enough money and that he should get one that week. Mme Bodet said that it was Daniel’s decision when he would get a new phone and should be satisfied with his until his dad got back. It made me laugh- I remember begging my parents to take me to the store so I could buy video games or new technology when I was younger. Time always feels like it stretches so long when you want something you can’t have at that age.

Catherine A let me know that she wanted me to prepare a lesson on St. Patrick’s Day. I spent some time getting it together before I settled in for a night of reading.