CHERRIES AND OTHER THINGS

Outside our back office window next to the garage is a nice smallish cherry tree and it is full up with cherries. I pick them almost every day now and it is oh so nice. Especially since I have no other fruit just now.

This weekend there's a big meeting in our dining room/ living room for one of the OM branches. It has to do with teenagers or something and I plan on not being here, although it will end with a barbecue tonight and that is very temping to me. Free food in any form is tempting. Cherries; barbecues; the other day a pastor at one of the churches here offered us all these packs of ready-made fish soup and, yes, I did carry all of them home through the metro. I haven't tried them yet, though. They look a little suspicious. I could feel them sloshing around during the commute.

Today Sarah and I are going to the Centre Pompidou, which is a big contemporary art museum whose stairs are all on the outside of the building. I learned about it in my 9th grade French class with Madame Coffman the Wonder, and now I'm actually going. For some reason this is the most surprising thing to me yet.

We don't know how long it will take. Afterwards we are meeting Katie for coffee (she has no interest in Pompidou) and trying to stay out as much as possible. Meetings are a great repellant for us slackers in the basement.

Classes are coming along well. They are almost over for the semester, since most of the women taking them go back to their respective countries for the summer break. It's a transient time as far as teachers go-- one of the women who teaches has gone back America for a few months and her place is being filled by various other people on various days of the week. There are several very short term people staying in the house right now, and another group will arrive next week. It is only a matter of making room in the fridge and washing sheets more often, and watching Jane Austen with five to a couch.