Il faut faire la cuisine!

Tomorrow is the day of my big placement test. Aiee! Bonne chance, Leah.

Other than numerous pastries (pain au chocolat, éclair chocolat, beignet, etc), I cook for myself. My new two American house-mates (Amanda and Maya, who hail from Notre Dame) have some sort of deal in their tuition where they eat 3 meals a week with Madame et sa famille. Unfortunament, I have not been invited to dine, so I've been getting down to business in the cuisine (kitchen). I guess it's for the best, because a meal with the family costs about 5 euros, I think. So far, I'm eating for about 1/3 to 1/2 that.

Breakfast, which is by necessity quite French, is just some fruit or bread + topping (fromage, buerre, confiture) or yogurt.
Lunch is either leftover dinner or a sandwich + fresh fruit/veggies. I bought a bag of clementines and a box of pears for really cheap, and they're holding up well.
Beverages: really just water. I have some jasmine tea bags, but I always forget them in my room. When the kitchen is 3 floors below, it's disheartening to go back up for a measly tea bag. Other drinks are trop chèr, but I think I'll splurge on a carton of juice once a week. Juice here is much more adventurous.

Dinner has been a little more interesting. So far, I've made the following cheap dishes

pâtes-verts (green pasta): spaghetti + pesto + haricots-verts (green beans). I couldn't eat just pasta and pesto two nights in a row, so I threw in the green beans. It looked gross but tasted alright, and I told the famille that it was an American dish. lul.

jambalaya : okay, I cheated on this, because I used a mix from home, but it's just rice mix + sauteed onion + sauteed pepper + a flavorful sausage. I accidentally bought a Moroccan sausage, and sweat like a pig the whole time. Those should come with warning labels.

spring rolls : Not gonna lie, everybody was uber impressed by this, especially Mme., who told me that most of her American students only ate prepared food. Heh. Not this one! rice wrappers + cucumber + carrot + lettuce AND THEN I made my own peanut sauce. peanut butter + soy sauce (+vinegar and sugar if you have any, I did not).

I couldn't help feeling "I did this all by myself!" which part of me thinks I'm too old to be feeling, but the other part feels that you're never too old to feel good about doing something 'all by myself.' Including international travel, oui? My French comprehension is getting better, and I think I'm prepared for tomorrows exam. On verra!