February was a pretty easy month
for us here in Deauville, mostly because we were really just on vacation the
entire month! During the time that we were in school, I started a Skype
exchange with SCAPA in Lexington. My children had never seen any Americans
before other than the three of us here, and were simply amazed (in a good way.
They loved getting to meet everyone and hear Americans speaking French). In
this Skype exchange we assign challenges between the Lexington school and my
school here in France. The first challenge between the two schools was for
SCAPA to learn the first verse of the French national anthem (La Marseillaise)
and for my group to learn “My Old Kentucky Home”. I’m very proud of how hard my
kids worked to learn this song, and how eager they were to learn a little more
about Kentucky and its history.
During the vacation I decided to do a little
European tour to visit my friends. I first left Paris for Ireland where I spent
a few days in Galway on the eastern coast, then headed back to Dublin to revisit
the city and my best French friend that lives there. From there I left back to
Poland (because Poland is a country worth visiting more than one time!). My
friend Magda pulled out all the stops and took me to a village in the south on
the Slovakian border called Zakopane. We spent the 6 days I was in Poland there
relaxing in a cabin nestled in a small valley, eating local smoked cheeses,
dancing to traditional Polish music, and even taking some time to drive to
Slovakia (a new country for me!).
From there I left to The Netherlands to see a
friend who did an exchange with YFU (Youth for Understanding) at my high school
in Kentucky. I hadn’t seen her since the last time I did a sister cities
program (2015). To say that I am still grateful for this work opportunity would
be an understatement. I’m so lucky to be able to see all these amazing places
and have the opportunity to be reunited with my friends on this side of the
world.
Until next time!
Andrew
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