Pues Eso

My absolute least favorite phrase to hear in my English classes is “Pues eso.”  Essentially it means “ok, that.”  Typically the students use it when they ask me how to say something in English, and instead of repeating it they say “ok, that.”  For example (this would all take place in Spanish) “Teacher, how do you say sweeping the floor?” “Sweeping… the… floor.” “Pues, eso.”  I try to say it very slowly and emphasize all of the sounds sometimes writing it on the board, all they need to do is repeat it.  Yet, that seems to be too difficult sometimes.  After a morning of hearing nothing but “Pues, eso” in the secondary school, I went to the primary school and poor Antia made the decision to respond “Pues, eso” instead of trying to repeat the sentence.  It was like nails on a chalkboard.  Since the students in 6^th grade are still willing to listen to the teacher and try to make changes you tell them to I decided to nix this nasty little habit.  I told Antia and the class that I never wanted to hear that phrase ever again, it’s not in English and it’s not a real answer, so never again do I want to hear it in the class.  I still hear it every week.  Now every class the 6^th graders greet me with “Hello Emily, pues eso.”  But, no longer do they use it as an answer to an actual question which makes me so happy!

Switerland continued

After promising and promising that I would update my blog, I am finally back!  The rest of my trip to Switzerland was amazing!  On Saturday morning, Stefan and Loic showed me an amazing bakery that they frequent and we picked up croissants and pain au chocolat for breakfast.  These were the most amazing pastries I have had.  My friend Fiona had told me that the croissants I had been quite fond of in our A Coruna bakery shouldn’t even be called croissants, I can see now what she meant.  Loic helped me with my French pronunciation and told me that I finally had mastered the word croissant.  I am clearly mastering the language quite rapidly; at this rate by the time I go to Paris in June I may be able to produce an entire sentence!    After a breakfast which was quite satisfactory, Stefan, Chloe, Winston and I drove up into the mountains to a ski resort to go tubing.  I still have not gotten over my traumatic 4^th grade skiing misadventures in which I managed to knock over my entire beginner’s class in a domino effect, partially because several years after the fact a girl from the class brought it up.   I was very excited I was still able to enjoy the snow and the beautiful views without having to suffer any more skiing humiliation.  After a beautiful afternoon enjoying the Alps, we returned to Paudex and I went to dinner at a fondue restaurant with the adults.  The fondue was delicious and a perfect ending to a day spent outside in the cold. 

On Sunday, we drove to France for a family baptism.  The drive there was really neat.  We drove along with the lake on one side and the Alps on the other.  We even drove through the city of Evian, yes, THAT Evian, source of the bottled water.  The baptism was very interesting, although since I am not Catholic nor can I speak French, I really didn’t understand much.  But, their family was very nice and welcoming so it was a great experience.  And the food afterwards was quite good as well.  When we returned to Switzerland I had more of an opportunity to speak with Stefan’s father, their bon papa.  He and I watched the French news together which he explained a little in English.  He was very interesting to talk to as he worked as an environmental scientist and he has lived in many different rainforests across the world.  He even had brought some of his rock collection to show the kids and I was able to see them as well.  He had a moon rock, as well as part of a meteorite.  I just wish that I had been able to speak French so that I could have talked with him more. 

Lutry

More of Lutry

On Monday, I walked to the neighboring town of Lutry (home of the amazing bakery I had been to on Saturday) and just enjoyed walking outside.  I was able to walk along the lake to get there which was quite enjoyable.  The lake was quite peaceful, with the exception of one speedboat going along, which with a second look I realized was pulling a water skier.  Well, I guess if the lake isn’t frozen over why not?  In the afternoon I took the train from Paudex to the Chateau de Chillon which was a half hour away.  It was a former defense castle on Lake Geneva.  I learned on the tour that it had held the famed prisoner Bonivard and that Lord Byron had visited the Chateau for inspiration when writing about Bonivard.  I had never heard of Bonivard nor am I a big Lord Byron fan, but I still very much enjoyed the Chateau.  The views from the castle were breathtaking and the architecture was very interesting as well.

Chateau de Chillon

 On Tuesday I had time for one more activity before my flight.  I went to the Foundation L’Hermitage which is an art museum that is home to an impressionist exposition.  They have a few Degas ballerina works and several impressionist paintings of Lake Geneva as well as other beautiful paintings.  The impressionists are my absolute favorite painters so I was very happy I was able to see the museum.  The trip to Switzerland was just what I needed, and although I sometimes miss home I remembered that if I wasn’t living in Spain, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience everything I did in Switzerland.