So You Think You Can...

...Throw a fancy dinner party?
I thought I could; but my waffle/soup/chili gatherings do not hold a candle to my apartmate's vision of how a dinner party should be!

Monday we had our first classes and then a meal together; lasagna made by Katie, Dolores and Prisca. After that we went through our schedule for the week. The guys went to pick up our 11th CEM student, from the train station. Joelle and I went back to our apartment and prepared for dinner. We invited all the CEMistes for dinner. I had made dough in the morning and prepared pizzas. Joelle prepared mini croques monsieurs. We had our first chorus rehearsal, and afterwards all the CEMistes, came over for dinner. First, we brought out the croquet monsieur, cut up into 1/6ths, and passed them around. Then, Joelle brought out a beautiful salad, with tomatoes and hard boiled eggs cut into flower shapes. It was a bit too beautiful and we had a hard time getting the crowd started at eating it! After that, we brought out one pizza at a time, four total, concluding with a not-quite-CiCi’s quality macaroni and cheese pizza. After that, we brought out rice pudding, delicately spooned into mini-expresso mugs. Very classy. At the end, we sang and ate a birthday cake.

Tuesday: Today after class and our 2 hour lunch break, we took the metro together to visit Odette, the oldest member of the congregation. She is 94 and in the hospital at the moment.

Tuesday evening we had the first Club Cool. The lesson was about Peter. There were about 12 children, and they (almost all) love answering questions; they squirm and jump up and down and shout “moi, moi” without any offer of candy! Very impressive.

Wednesday we split up for our afternoon activities. Joelle and 3 others provided homework help. Only church-kids came, and not very many, but it looked like the tutors were sufficiently occupied with the few who came. 2 went to a school for autistic children, and myself and 3 others went to St. Maur Maison de Retraite, or Home for the Aged, and worked with the Blouses Roses (Pink Blouses). We donned our pink coats and worked with 6 other woman, who had set up a little art project. We traced “leaves” on the paper, and gave them to the residents to paint. Afterwards, we cut out the leaves and pasted them on an orange background to make a Fall Scene.