France: There Is No Substitute

     French people have lots of ingenious ideas about how to make things run smoothly.  Take shopping carts for instance.  You put in a euro coin, you get your cart.  You return your cart, you get your euro back.  No more carts lying around the parking lot, and there's always a cart when you need one.

     But there are some ideas that haven't caught on yet.  Take the idea of "substitute teachers."  You know, the time-honored tradition (at least in America) of calling in a substitute teacher to take over the class if the regular teacher is ill or can't be at school for some reason.  Well, here in Vaison, they don't do substitutes.  You heard me.  If the teacher is sick or can't show (hey, it happens!) the kids in that particular class simply don't have school.  They're either sent home or (if it's an inconvenience to the parents) the kids will get put in the back of some other class (a 5th grader in a 2nd grade class, please no!) for the day.  There are no make up days.

     We've had it happen to us periodically.  It's been odd.  But for the past two weeks, one of Ford's teachers has been out with an ill child.  So Ford's entire class has basically been cancelled for all but two days a week (when the other teacher is there).  The kids in Ford's class simply aren't coming to school (whereas Asha's class and every other class in school including the other 5th grade has school)!  Ford had only two days of school last week and one this week.  Let me state, as diplomatically as possible:  That's nuts!

     We told some of the other parents about our ingenious American system of substitute teachers.  They thought that sounded interesting, but they might have chalked it up as "bizzare" -- kind of like how they think it's a travesty that American kids have to bring their lunch to school in a paper bag whereas French kids get 4 courses and nearly two hours to eat.  (It always results in looks of concern or pity when we tell people how American kids "brown bag it" for lunch.)

     Ford and some of the boys from his class have basically been spending their days during the week at the municipal swimming pool.  As in, "all day."  Ford packs a lunch, puts his suit and towel in a backpack and heads down to the pool at about 10 in the morning.  Sometimes his friend Victor comes to the front door and the two of them head off together.  Killian is almost always there too.  And then Ford wanders home about 6 p.m., very happy, with bloodshot eyes from all the chlorine:

After Another Full Day at the Pool

     Meanwhile, Asha and Ivy have been suffering from a dual case of extreme lethargy:

      Le General has been working hard!  She has been organizing and doing pre-packing for our return trip, making hotel and car reservations, setting up health appointments back in Seattle, and a host of other things only Le General can do (or at least, that is what I maintain).

     Also, a hippopotamus was spotted on our property:

    

     She lounges in her water environment daily, or hunts for food:

Get ready, hippo!  It's 90 degrees next week!