Vacances d'Hiver!

Yes folks, its that time of year again, time for the French to go on another vacation. I for one, have been working very hard, this month alone I have worked a whopping 15 hours due to class cancellations and my bus getting stuck on an icy road en route to Lodeve yesterday morning. So, with that behind me, it is now time to depart on our next vacation. This time my friends and I are going to Malta! Malta is a tiny island country in the middle of the Mediterranean not far from Sicily. Our journey begins today when eight of us will take the train down to Perpignan, then the exciting FrogBus will take us to the airport in Girona, Spain where we will begin our 8 hour wait for our 7am flight departure. At around 9 am on Saturday morning we will land in Malta where we will be greeted by Krista and Stefan our lovely Maltese hosts whom we spent four wonderful months with in Montpellier!
So I bid you all farewell, and I will try my very best to keep everyone updated on my wherabouts for the next two weeks!
Me and my Maltese friends!

CAF CAF CAF

One of the benefits of working in France is that on my measly assistants salary I am eligible to receive CAF. CAF stands for Caisse d'Allocations Familliales which means that I am eligible to receive government funding to help me pay for my rent each month. As an American, the fact that the government is going to pay for my anything is something close to a miracle. However, this is France, and nothing is ever accomplished quickly. My CAF experience began in mid November when i filled out and mailed in my forms. I had to have a signed form from my landlady as well as photocopies of my passport, a document stating I lived where I said I did, my bank information, etc. About three weeks later I received my first pay stub, so my friend Darcy and I went to bring our stubs to the CAF office. After waiting in line for about thirty minutes we finally made it up to the desk. (The lines were long because the CAF was closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesday afternoons or something absurd like that). After finally speaking with someone, I was informed that they did not in fact, need my pay stub. However, being experienced with French bureaucracy, I insisted that they take a copy of the form anyways. Two more weeks went by and I received a letter from CAF informing me that they needed a copy of my visa, something that they had not originally required. Fine. I mailed the visa and began to wait once more. I heard nothing for a month. Then Darcy decided that she was going to go to CAF one day and see what was going on. Her plan failed. CAF was on strike. Merci la France. Thankfully it was only a one day strike and Darcy was able to get her forms settled the next day. Just when I had resigned myself to having to pay a visit to the CAF offices once more I received a phone call. A very nice Monsieur called me and asked me how much rent I paid, I told him, even though that question is one of the first they ask you when you fill out your application. He thanked me and wished me a good day. When I told my friend Alissa of this encounter her reply was OMG! CAF actually exists?" Not only does CAF exist, they acknowledged my presence! Now here's hoping that the money eventually comes through!

Cheers Mates!