Ce wifi de merde

Yes, I used a 'gros mot.' Sometime Monday morning the Wifi I had been mooching from a neighbor's unsecured Wifi network suddenly became secured, realizing one of my fears about living with a woman who doesn't even own a computer, let alone have her own wireless network. All is well, the institute has plenty of computers and, I'll be honest, I mostly use the internet for nonessential things (movies, TV, YouTube, I would go on but it would get rather embarassing).

My host mom seems to take delight in asking me what I'm doing without internet, to which I reply, very calmly, that I am typing up a book report for a class or am reading a new book. It seems even Marie-Do can't argue with the merit of reading a book in her native language.

Yesterday I learned how to make an apple crumble, which is kind of like apple crisp but less substantial and less complicated. It's just cut-up apples covered in a mixture of softened butter, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. I was glad to find out that the appeal of cooked apples with vanilla ice cream is transAtlantic, even if we didn't have any ice cream around this time.

I think it's so funny when Marie-Do says that things should be balanced, moderated, and light, and I think how much I crave certain American meals she would definitely not put in those categories. For example, she put what I would have characterized as the bare minimum amount of cinnamon into the crumble, because she didn't want the taste to be too strong. And apparently vanilla ice cream is perfectly suitable to go with apple crumble, and crême fraiche is a good substitute. Whipped cream, however, is simply "too sweet", absolutely out of the question. Marie-Do said the same thing when I described my mother's key-lime pie with whipped-cream topping, which I am reluctant to bring up again for fear that her judgment of what is widely considered to be a masterpiece (if you've had it, you can attest to that) will bring out my defensive side. Don't mess with family cooking, let alone desserts. However much I appreciate French food, I sometimes wish the French would loosen up. Sometimes in the winter a heavy alfredo sauce with parmesan on pasta is just the trick, and I don't think your tastebuds will scream from the overwhelming combination of apple crumble and a dollop of whipped cream. Call me crazy...

Classes are going well. We've had a steady stream of tests the past two weeks since we're passing the midpoint. And spring break is coming up! I can't wait. My mom and my aunt Missy are flying into Paris, where I'll meet them and we'll stay for 3 nights, and then we're coming back down to Aix for the rest of the week before they leave on Saturday. The second week of vacation I'm planning a Rome-Florence-Bologna trip. A Swedish girl from my class, Sofie, who's lived in Italy for 12 years is planning on coming with me, which will be perfect. She seems rather nonchalant about the planning ahead aspect, probably since it's no big deal to her to go from France to Italy. I'm looking forward to the break though, and afterward there are only two weeks of class! I can't believe it.
That's it for now, à bientôt!
Maggie B.