So my third recipe for my New Year's resolution is Creole-Style Skillet dinner. It was interesting because we couldn't find Kielbasa (cuz this is France) so we just used sausage which ended up just tasting like bologna, we added cayenne pepper and paprika (my roommate Molly is like Rachel freaking Ray) and saved the dish. It was super spicy, but it was actually pretty good.

So I've just been working and hanging out. Nothing too exciting happening right now.

My parents and Amy are getting ready to come out and visit me in April. They got plane tickets and we just got train tickets (which was a big fiasco since the website was in French and Dad does not speak or read French.) But I'm getting super excited to show them around my town, Lyon, Grenoble, and this country I love. It'll be a great trip. Until then, I have planning my Morocco trip in February to keep me busy.

Woo hoo!

Hello!! I have some news!! So I already have another two-week break from work in February. And Molly and I have just booked our tickets to Morroco!! We'll be spending 5 days traveling with Molly's friends John and Kasey. We are flying into Casablanca, going to Rabat, Fes, and Marrakech! More details to come, but I'm really excited about this! This will be my first trip to Africa! Holla!
And Molly, Ellie, and I went to Lyon today to escape Bourgoin-Jallieu. We did a little shopping, a lot of walking around and stopped for lunch.
Then tonight, I made my second week's meal from my cookbook. Tonight's dish was Orange Chicken Stirfry. It was really good and easy to make! It's so easy, Linnea can make it!

Sorry it's been so long :(

OK, I’m not going to talk about how I’ve totally failed at keeping up with this blog, instead I'm gonna post this pic of me and our bonhomme de neige (snowman), Phillipe. SO with that, we're gonna just move right on to my topic for the day.

I went on an adventure today to get a flu shot. It was my H1N1 shot actually and the French government was paying so I figured, “Pourquoi pas?” (why not?) Since I pay for the French Social Security out of my paycheck, and I had to get a longterm visa, I’m considered a citizen and I am included in the French Healthcare system and I have their social security. The way they handle vaccinations is they send you a letter and then you can go in and get one for free. So I received my letter right before Christmas break so I had to wait until after I got back to redeem it.
Then the fun began. The only address for the vaccination on my letter was “Centre Commercial de Champ Fleuri Rue J-H Fabre Bourgoin-Jallieu 38300”. OK this was the problem with that: (well actually, there were 4 problems w/ that)
1. In high school french class, “Centre Commercial” was the word synonymous w/ “Mall”. In reality in France, “Centre Commercial” is what they call a large building that contains 1 large grocery store and usually several other gift or clothes stores. Makes sense, right? Center of Commercial places, right? Ha.
2. There are 3 “Rue Jean-Henri Fabre” s in Bourgoin-Jallieu. Bourgoin is not that big, and seriousfully, that’s ridicule!! So Google-maps was very unhelpful in that respect.
3. I could have checked them out by foot, but we had gotten about 20 cm of snow and they don’t clear off the pavements, cuz that would be helpful for des petites americaines like me who can’t drive here. They also RAN OUT OF ROAD SALT, which isn’t a huge deal because it’s not like it’s the middle of winter or anything OH WAIT IT IS. So I just talked to Molly my roommie who got her flushot first. She gave me vague directions, enough that I could figure out where in general I was going. And actually it was better than I thought it was gonna be, since it was on a Bus Route. Holla!!
4. Ok, so I step off the bus and look around for the “Centre Commercial”. Hunh. Nope. Apparently they kinda throw around words like “Centre” and “Commercial”. No wonder Google Maps was telling me there was no such thing there: it was a Norma (a ghettotastic German discount grocery store) and a rundown daycare/vaccination place. Woot.

Also Funny note: once you arrive for a flu shot, you have to fill out some paperwork and then wait in like 13 lines before getting your shot. A woman who came in after me with 2 little monsters, I mean children, griped about filling out the paperwork, but the policeman in charge of the process just smiled and said, “Mais c’est la France!” I laughed, cuz this is France.
Oh and my New Year's Resolution this year is to make at least one new recipe from my new cookbook every week.
This week (weeek1) was Lemon-Basil Chicken! It was pretty tangy. Here are Molly and me, enjoying our chicken!



Anyways,
I do have some other posts I can publish from before Christmas so I promise to work on them and to post more often. Désolée, je suck.
So for now, Bonsoir et au revoir!!
Bis!!