Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Beach, Mini-Golf and Harry Potter: who could ask for anything more?

I have been running a lot since I've been here. I don't know if subconsciously I need to run to justify the vast quantities of delicious but calorific food I'm taking in, or if I'm truly doing in an attempt to get in better shape. In any case, running makes me feel better all day. I think I'm partly riding the coattails of my advantageous but fleeting high hemoglobin count due to altitude training in Utah, but I have decided to use my fortuitous circumstances as a springboard to continued and increased physical activity. I'm averaging around 6 miles 6 times a week, which might not seem like much, but I haven't run this much since cross-country in high school.

Running was just the beginning of a great day. Yesterday was all kinds of fun! After running, breakfast, and a staff meeting, I hit the beach with a few other staff members. I still can't get over how amazingly beautiful the beach and the water are here. I make a point of swimming every time I go to the beach, which is a good supplement to running in the morning.

After the beach and lunch, I lead an expedition to a mini-golf place here in town. The course was sub-par (worst pun ever) at best. On seventeen holes (we skipped one due to a traffic jam) I shot under fifty, so I was happy with my putting efforts.

Some ice cream and crêpes on the way back to the lycée put the kids in a cheery mood. Following a break of an hour or two and some dinner, I collected money for tickets and escorted a group of 35 American teenagers on an excursion to the Harry Potter debut at a theater some 25 minutes away on foot. What a logistical nightmare! Fortunately I was not alone: the 3 other RAs all helped with crowd control and ticket purchases, and we had thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I thought it was a great improvement over the previous movies in the series but a bit short. I would have liked to see more of the supporting roles in the movie, but I thought the flow of the plot went much better.

The walk home across town was even more exciting at 12:30 a.m. The kids behaved themselves fairly well, with a few exceptions, and they were really good about keeping it quiet as we entered the lycée again. That was my biggest concern, but they were good about it. After that, I was ready to call it a night.

All in all, it was a great day! I'm still looking forward to para-sailing and scuba diving in the near future, as well as excursions to Monaco, Eze, and Aix-en-Provence, a day off in Italy, and seeing some old friends in Nîmes and Montpellier after the program. I'll keep you posted!

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