Mystery

This evening I was trying to snap some shots of the Hamiltot to share with family.  He's in an extraordinarily good mood with lots of stretches and smiles without me holding him or singing silly things to him.  Well, as I described in my last post, my little camera is on the fritz.  It froze up after one picture.  Each time I ejected the battery to restart it, the same thing happened.  I thought to myself, "Self, perhaps it saved one cutie shot of the little babe.  Check the memory to see what there is to see."  Much to my surprise there was not an image of the gleaming toothless smile of my firstborn, but a salad that Kyle and I made nearly two years ago in France.  When I tried to copy it to my computer, it won't open normally.  It mysteriously only appears when my memory card is in my camera.  How silly.  Since I can't capture magical moments from my little one's day, I'll have to share some things from this past weekend.

We drove up to North Carolina to visit the GrandHam homestead for the weekend.  While there, Bennett got to meet two great grandmothers and a great aunt.  He's almost met everyone (thankfully Aunt Kelly is coming home from Germany for Christmas!).  Surprisingly it was a really restful weekend for me.  With so many family members in one place, it was nice to pass the baby to someone and squeeze in a little extra sleep.  I felt really rested to start my week back at home~ crazy!  Anywho, Bennett not only met more of his family; he got to meet 3 of Kyle's closest buddies from his wake boarding lake days (no pictures with JT).  Here are some of the photos~

Family enjoying a variety of desserts

Dr. Michael with us

Austin, Kyle, and B rocking a mohawk

In other good news, my big sister Katie and her husband Blake are moving to Georgia next month!  My brother-in-law got a job nearby, and they found a house just a short drive away!  I am so so so excited; we haven't lived in the same place in years.  It'll be so cool to have lots of quality time with them~ Kyle & Blake are both banjo players so I'm expected more bluegrass jams on the horizon.  Happy day for all!

Taken back in 2007~ they should be allowed to play more frequently than every 4 years.

Show And Tell Returns (Part III)

After much anticipation, the final installment of SHOW & TELL is here!  Why did it take so long to post this?  I have been a huge slacker this week (although I did finish the book I've been reading for the last month, baby and I reached our goal of moving 300 miles by foot, and the nursery is finally complete).  These last few items from my French students are a combination of drawings, odd items, and silly written notes.  Let's waste no more time....

Yes!  One child loves English (and not "englais" as I spotted on more than one occasion~ I believe it's a combo of english & francais).  Also Leha~ it's an epidemic.

You may be thinking cute stationary or what does this note say, but I'd like you to enjoy how Lisa Frank-style stationary is not just for the girls anymore.  Thank you Quentin for your decorative handwritten note.

I'm not sure what this is, but this heart face with wing ears showed up on a great number of drawings by students in different classes and different schools.  Should I be thinking this is the French Sponge Bob or looking into alternative manifestations of crop circles? 

In case I forgot somewhere down the road, Florent wanted to ensure that he was always remembered as a "Good boy :)".  It's true~ he is a very good boy and perhaps the brightest in one of my 3rd grade classes.

This poor student was unable to complete their flag of the Union Jack in time.  He did successfully depict the flag of the Belarusian Christian-Democratic Union...

Curse you Lily Allen and Black Eyed Peas for confusing and corrupting the children!  Edgar surely doesn't know what this means.  How does the worst of anglophone culture find its way to young impressionable french children?  We're talking WWF wrestling, Playboy clothing & accessories, KFC, and Michael Jackson.  No wonder they grow up into a whole nation of America haters; I'd hate it too if these were my ideas of American culture.

Oh no!  I love Leak?  Thankfully a friend with a blue pen was able to intervene with the correct spelling of my name.  This makes me giggle every time I see it.

There you have it.  The final chapter of the ad-FRENCH-ure is at a close.  I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane.  It'll only be another year or two before I start shamelessly showing & telling about the Hamiltot's art.  Until then, we'll return to 3H@H like normal.  Au revoir!

Show And Tell Returns (Part II)

We are continuing our three part series today of SHOW & TELL!  Today I'd like to share with you several funny responses I received on an "About Me" style worksheet.  As you will note, the worksheet uses British English inserting the letter "u" where no American would.  Without tons of resources available, this girl exploited every ESL teaching tool I could get my hands on.  Students were asked about their favorite color, food, number, sport, and animal.  I hope you'll be delighted by this selection of student responses.

See Answer 4~ My favorite sport is bowling (appropriate), computer (well... not exactly sporty), and tractor (where did you learn this word, child?)

See last answer~ This one is for Miss Foo, my sister, who has pet robo dwarf hamsters.

See Answer 2 & 5~ The French are fancier than Americans enjoying the finer things in life such as caviar and blue eyed white dragons.  This particularly refined student won't even be limited by selecting a singular number, but opted for the ever classy and impressive infinity.

See Answer 2~ Maybe I spoke too soon about French refinement...  I think this child would thrive in America (sans kebabs which I believe may be our greatest culinary weakness).

See Answer 2~ I can't believe my eyes!  Frog legs as a favorite food reinforces about a dozen stereotypes I had been trying to keep at bay about the French.  Visions pop into my mind of beret capped, mustache sporting, striped shirt wearing, cigarette smoking, baguette toting Frenchmen smooching up ladies' arms and shouting "Sacré bleu!" at the Eiffel Tower.  Probably not what this little one intended.  Also, the interest in sausage segues quite well into our final picture...

See Answer 1~ Dear Solene, I also love the colors gold, blue, purple, silver, and sausage.  This is the most charming answer in the history of time.  Love, Leah

This little stroll down memory lane really made me miss teaching and being around so many bright and wonderful children.  I love how all the children write in cursive and have multicolored pens for every occasion.  Each child had a pencil case that represented their interests.  When they got excited their exuberant "oui!" would sound more like "waaayyy!!"  I really loved singing and dancing with the kids.  I liked playing games a little less~ they are so competitive at times and conflict escalated quickly.  It still makes me sad when I recall the handful of times a child broke down in tears during my class; I still surge with joy when I think of the number of times a little one grabbed my hand in the hallway or the times I was required to lean over to receive greeting kisses on my cheeks.  Perhaps I would be a little less sentimental about it had I taught for more than one year.  I imagine a different batch of students every year may make one a little less attached to the children year in and year out.  I'd like to think, though, if I had continued to teach I'd keep the same attitude.  Without really knowing, all I can really say is that I miss them and hope their families and teachers value them more than I did or could during the 9 months I was with them.

Merciful heavens, this was supposed to be a funny entry.  Just leave it to a hormonal pregnant lady to get weepy over frog legs and tractors~ Hope you were amused by their interests.  One more show & tell to go before we return to all the Ham fam happenings.  À bientôt!

Show And Tell Returns (Part I)

 As many of you know (and as I constantly remind you in my writing), Kyle and I lived in Metz, France for 13 months shortly after getting married.  While we were there I worked as an English language teaching assistant in two elementary schools.  What this meant was that I was responsible for instructing 7 English classes for students ranging from 2nd to 5th graders 4 days a week.  Having never taught before and receiving only a bit of training before diving in, it presented challenges to me most days even after I got into my routine.  The greatest challenge I faced was the level of professionalism I felt needed to be maintained as French school teachers happen to be a bit more stern than the American variety (the star sticker business is a struggling industry in France).  Deep down I wanted to learn all about these little precious ones' lives and hug them each time I saw them.  They were all very dear to me.  As a testament to that, I often spent recess sitting with children in the library over taking a coffee break with my colleagues.

A brief aside about my true sentiments on teaching~  My real hope for my students is that they remember having a likable sort of teacher from America which fuels an interest for them to travel to this country some day.  In truth, I wish I had the boldness and ability to share more of my faith with them (a good many knew I was Protestant because I wore a "croix de Jesus" and they were curious about me not being Catholic).  I prayed then and still pray that if they are inspired to visit this country, they'll meet Christians who can teach them about Jesus and invite them to have a relationship with him.  In the meantime, I happily accept their friend requests on FB, but worry some are growing up too fast by their photos & status updates (middle school is the worst no matter what part of the world you're in). 

I knew I would really miss my little French students and came up with a fun way to remember them.  On the last two days of school it was clear learning would be out the window.  I came equipped with worksheets, colored paper, and a large collection of paper hearts (unfortunately not used on Valentine's day because I had a migraine & stayed home).  Since the school year ended on July 2nd, it seemed appropriate to celebrate American Independence day with a little School House Rock as well.  It was fun for all since the children were commencing a season of liberty from teachers and books and homework.  Armed with a variety of diversions, my (perhaps thinly veiled) plot began to take off; I intended to collect art and English handouts at the end of class to prepare a time capsule for myself.  Sneaky....

Fast forward a year~I had tucked away each classes' collection of paper goods in my accordion folder ever so careful to not steal a premature glance at my spoils.  I toted my heavy folder from Metz to Paris then over the Atlantic to Atlanta where my treasure spent some time in Marietta before settling in the guest/nursery closet here in our apartment in Norcross.  Without the flare of digging a hole in the ground for some ancient buried memories like we see so often in television (here I think of Kate on LOST unearthing the lunchbox she stole), I pulled the folder rather casually out of the closet last Friday night to see what there was to see.  My heart swelled to see their little handwritten names, strange sorts of drawings, and of course humorous corruptions of the English language.  To make this last a bit for our enjoyment, I've reinstated the ad-FRENCH-ure SHOW & TELL section!!!!  Tonight I give you Les Portraits d'une étrangère (or student renditions of me).  Enjoy....

Ah, the French spelling of my name~ I missed it!  I also miss having one pencil leg and one marker leg.  And always remember to wink when your rocking the side pony.

This student made sure to specify my nationality to the viewer lest we confuse me for a Brit or German.  Little known fact:  The French believe all Americans have 2 left hands and no pinkies.

In the arctic tundra that is the Lorraine region, I'm sure my lips never looked so good and healthy.  I can assure that I showed up to work nearly daily with hair like that after having capped and hooded my crown for warmth on the journey.

Oh... the other French spelling of my name.  That "h" always tripped them up.  This child seemed to be channeling something Godfather-esque since there is a horse's head next to my armless body.  Yikes!

The circle with arrow says "Ces toi Léa".  I make a note of this because "ces" should actually be "c'est" in proper French grammar (this kid used their phonetic skills sounding it out).  This grammar error helps me tell myself that teaching a second language to little ones who haven't mastered the basics of their first language is difficult.  This is for the days I came home and felt like they learned nothing from me.

Well, I'm not sure what to say about this one.  Ali was keeping it simple with the black & white color scheme.

This one makes me smile a lot.  On the mitten hands, see Arctic Tundra comment on drawing #3.  Overall I hope there was a lot of smiling and fun when I was teaching these kiddos~ if this is how this one student saw me (with a big grin and smiling eyes), what a blessing.  I'll take it.

Alright~ I hope you've enjoyed Part I of III show & tell installments.  If you want to see vintage art I collected at school last year (and currently have preserved in that same accordion folder), please venture over to the sidebar and select the "Show and Tell" link under "Hot Topigs".  Up next: humorous responses the little ones wrote on their profile worksheets and a mishmash of funny things both drawn and written.  For now, bonsoir!

Adieu, adieu to you and you and you

Queue the Von Trap family singers; it's time to officially bid the ad-FRENCH-ure farewell.  Dry your tears, friend.  The Hamiltons have not stopped having adventures, and I'll be happy to share more right here!  New blog title & look to come soon.  Today, I'd like to leave you with a medley of tiny European doors as this door in our life has closed....

I don't know what else to say, but why are there so many tiny doors in Europe?

Les Désastreuses aventures de la famille Hamilton

We departed from Rome with no problems and arrived in sunny Sardinia.  From this point, our adventure felt more like a romantic comedy where everything goes wrong.  I'll recount our troubled tale, but hopefully I'll still be able to communicate how much fun we had and what a bonding experience this trip became. We rented a little Smart car for fun and headed to our B&B to check in.

Oh no!  We flew past our destination!

Our place was out in the middle of nowhere.  The roads were lonely and wide; there was sandy orange stone and  tufts of dry grass for miles. The owner of the B&B, Graziano, was thoroughly delightful.... but we had no common language.  Thankfully all my studies of Latin-based tongue paid off; somehow we deduced how much we owed him and that there is no breakfast in September with mixed French, Spanish, and Italian.  So I guess you can say we stayed in a B&.  He also helped us find a restaurant nearby for dinner.  Since we were hungry, we tossed our bags in the room and went straight to the local pizza place.  We ordered a delicious plate of local cheeses and charcuterie (heavily influenced by the boars on the island~they make a delicious sausage).   We sampled some island brews (beer, not coffee), and ate a ridiculous amount of pizza.  We did all of this in the dark.  For some reason, the power kept going out at the restaurant.  Thank goodness we were in Italy where all good pizza is perfectly baked in wood burning ovens.

ichnusa is ichtasty

Not exactly a candlelit dinner... those are the flood lights that prevented us from depending solely on the moon.

We had some good plans for day 2 in Sardinia.  We got up to take a jog and discovered that we were stationed in the midst of a large neighborhood of vineyards.  It seems the harvest had already begun as many of the workers in the fields seemed puzzled by the two English speakers running by their rural workplace.  I could jog that little area everyday and be quite content.  We then set out to do a little exploration by car and try to take a peak at Neptune's Grotto.

Glorious grapes!

We (read: I) didn't wear appropriate shoes to explore Neptune's Grotto. 

There is not a bad picture taken on this island.  Not possible.

Our trusty tiny car~ I look like a giant!

Don't you want to go for a dip?

For the afternoon we were set to take a ferry from a nearby port to Corsica.  When we arrived at the dock for our ferry, we found it was not meant to be.  You'd have to have been living under a rock to have missed the incredible number of strikes which have occurred throughout France the last couple of months.  On this particular day, all French transportation workers were all for la greve.  This even included French ferry navigators who work between the Italian & French islands.  I was distraught, but Kyle had the presence of mind to get a refund on our tickets and patronize an Italian company who had not abandoned their boat posts.  This meant a later ferry from another port farther north on the coast.  Thus we had to mix up our hotel arrangements as we'd be arriving in the evening 3 hours away from our hotel.  Kyle took care of it all; he is so patient.  We drove to port #2 for the day and had enough time for a cappuccino before our departure.  Kyle's phone rang with an unknown number.  The new hotel he booked for the night didn't actually have any rooms available.  *sigh*  We hunted down an internet cafe and found another hotel to book so that we wouldn't have to sleep in the Smart car on our European honeymoon.  Thankfully for the rest of this day, everything went smoothly.

A floating parking lot!  Seriously, "ferry" doesn't seem to adequately describe what this machine can do.

Corsica~we've arrived.

We were back in France!  Something about traveling to exotic places yet still being able to communicate is a great comfort.  Corsica looks very similar to Sardinia, but it felt great to be back among the French.  Sadly, we woke up to a cool, rainy gray day.  Just when we thought we could enjoy a day at the beach...  Alas, that doesn't spoil our fun.  We went out and got coffee and ice cream for lunch then went for a good walk at the beach where we found such delightful treasures.

Out of the rain with a lovely view

...and who needs sunshine?

This little number is supposed to be a Corsican specialty.  They are made with chestnut flour but aren't the most delish.

We explored rocky paths and took crooked self-timed photos....

...saw wind surfers....

...and kite surfers....

... and found a cat!

Kyle even liked her.  He named her Suity (pronounced sweetie) because it's like the French word to follow.  That's what she did; she followed us.

Sometimes we followed her.

We also enjoyed a Corsican beer.  This is Kyle's artsy picture.  A good day was had by all.

The rain couldn't be the only thing to thwart us this day~that would have been too simple.  We got a call from America; my dad called to let us know we needed to change our flight plans because our day was filling up quick.  We were set to return back to the U.S. in less than a week so it meant rearranging our plans for moving out of our dorm and saying farewell to friends in Metz.  Again, Kyle masterfully filled all the gaps, and we went back to enjoying our honeymoon trip.

We had been staying in Bonifacio which has so much to see.  There are beaches, the beautiful port, tons of great restaurants, and plenty of shopping.  All of this exists in what feels like two cities~the upper and the lower.  We had only spent time in the lower part because it was easy to walk to from our hotel.  We spent our second day in town exploring the upper level.  

It was chilly but totally worth an uphill hike.

What a place for Christians to worship.  I'm struggling with coveting...

Homes on the hill

Crazy curvy port

Kyle went all out on our next stop~a breathtaking B&B (with breakfast in September) in Porto Vecchio.  I wish we had stayed there from the day we departed from Rome.  In addition to staying in the most gorgeous place ever, the sun finally came out and we could finally go to the beach!  We soaked in a lot of sun, read a lot, and enjoyed a Corsican beer.  I do have to note that it was a bit windy~  or maybe it was terribly windy.  Not a bad thing on a warm day, but it is definitely unpleasant to be pelted by stinging sand at the beach.  We found sanctuary from the grainy assault behind some large beach rocks.  No problems.  For dinner we went to a really cool restaurant where the menu changed each day based on what the chef was interested in cooking and what was available at the market.  The menu was written on a large chalkboard that the waitress carried from table to table for patrons to make their selection.  Kyle and I opted to get an appetizer and entree to split.  It wasn't until we were about to enjoy our kirs when we noticed some small print on the chalkboard~ non CB (meaning no credit/debit cards).  Yet again we were in a pickle as we had a very small amount of cash on us.  We were about to pay for our drinks and depart when the waitress insisted that we could eat today and pay tomorrow.   I felt like Wimpy from Popeye~ "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for delicious shrimp pasta dish today."  Crisis averted (though we went to an ATM after dinner to pay for the lovely meal~ not a quick task when the closest ATM was a 30 minute drive away... crazy island life).

My bud + books + beer + beach = best day ever

Since you can't photograph the wind, you can at least show it's violent wake.  Exhibit A: restaurant sign knocked over covered in sand.

Ah, who cares about the wind?

This B&B was my favorite.  Can you believe that's our view?

Breakfast~the word alone inspires happiness.  French breakfasts are usually yogurt, baguette, fresh butter and jam, orange juice, and plenty of coffee.  Simple bliss!  We got a little something extra with our breakfast~ bad news.  We have ventured into the absurd with vacation obstacles at this point.  That wind I mentioned yesterday was none other than the legendary and terrifying Mistral.  I had learned about it in my French culture class and how it wreaks havoc all over Provence.  Never in a million years would I expect it to interrupt our trip to an island in the sun.  The lady who owned the B&B informed us no ferries would be braving the waters for a few days because it's too dangerous with the winds.  No kidding~these natural ports are surrounded by imposing rocky cliffs.  For Kyle and me, we knew we were trapped.  Here we had an Italian Smart car which had to be returned to the airport in Sardinia as well as a serious deadline to be back to Metz for moving out and then Paris to fly back to the U.S.  Like, this was Sunday and we were going to fly back to the states on Wednesday.  Cutting it a little close, I'd say.  Just to make sure we knew how seriously impossible it'd be to leave the island, the wind decided to kick it up a notch.  We stayed in our beautiful room all day long and read in bed.  I've never seen or heard anything like it, but now I truly know the fear the 3 little pigs must have felt.

After many prayers and not the most restful night of sleep, we drove to the port in the hopes that the ferry would arrive and carry us and our tiny Smart car back to Italian soil.  We waited~ no one at the port knew definitively whether or not it would make the crossing.  The clock kept ticking; our departure time came and went.  Then. We. Heard. The. Fateful. Sound. Of. A. FOGHORN!!  A large ferry came into the port, unloaded it's cargo and passengers, and it was our turn to board!  They couldn't have dragged us off that boat if it were on fire~we were going back to Italy.  We had a long ride back and met some lovely Canadians who were retired teachers (all French speakers).  Back in Santa Teresa, we drove the car back onto solid Italian ground and happily set out to Castelsardo where we would stay one more night before returning home.

Let me on that boat!

We're all aboard and headed back to Sardinia.

Adieu Corsica.

Kyle again chose a beautiful place for us to stay, and the only hiccup we faced in this town was that many restaurants weren't open on Monday for dinner.  No biggie.  We loved our last day on the island~a great breakfast, beautiful weather, great conversations, lots of thank you prayers to God, and the best way to bid farewell to Europe.  It was just the best to get a week of time with just Kyle without any obligations to just be together and reflect on the incredible year we shared in France.

No complaints here.

A little poolside sunbathing before our flight.  Farewell, paradise.

Best moment of the trip?  You see a small house in the middle of nowhere with the word "formaggi" painted on the side.  You say to yourself, "Self, it says cheese, but does it mean there is cheese within?"  Well, I have a bold husband who has a weakness for pecorino romano....

Would you be tempted to enter?

This is how much cheese you can get for 7 euros.  No knives, just spoons.