THE PARIS LETTER: Paris Child Care

Hey Everyone -
Sorry I'm so late with this week's letter. I've actuallly - finally - been getting some energy back, and the weather has been gorgeous here, so Matt and I actually LEFT THE HOUSE and did things both days this weekend. Yesterday we went on a hike in the Forest of Versailles, and today we went to see La Conquete, a French film about Nicholas Sarkozy's first campaign, and ate burritos on the Canal Saint Martin. Reasonably good burritos ,too! This was Matt's first film in French, and really only my third - I think I understood 50% of it. Afterwards, I asked Matt how it went and he said he only got about 20% of it - together, we were able to piece together basically what was happening (I, for example, know that the word "couilles" means "balls", so I understood all the times Sarkozy said "I've got him by the balls", which was helpful). Hey, we're trying.

THE PARIS LETTER: Maison Des Examens!

Hi Everyone -

Whew, I gotta get cracking on this letter now that the Rapture has passed us by. You won't be surprised to learn that there was basically NO talk about the predicted end of the world here in Paris, though it seems like every one of my American-based Facebook friends was into it yesterday. Glad to see that I'll be spending the end times with all of you.

First of all, thank you all so much for your good wishes on the pregnancy! It was so nice to hear from so many of you about it - There was no letter last week because I was SUPPOSED to be in Cannes for the film festival, but then canceled my trip at the last minute because of illness - after my experience in Bologna, where I had the double-whammy of morning sickness and bad-cold sickness, I didn't want to go to another conference/festival in less that perfect health - so, sadly I will have no stories from the red carpet for you guys in this letter. It was hard for me to finally shut the trip down - it took me until 3 hours before my train was to leave to finally cancel - but it was really not the year for it.

THE PARIS LETTER: The Big Announcement

Hello all -

Yes, just in time for Mother's Day, we've got a big announcement to make - I'm PREGNANT. Otherwise known as - with child, knocked up, expecting, with bun in oven. I'm finally out of the first trimester, so we are letting more people know (though truth be told, some of you know already - I'm looking at you, Mom. Now you can start telling the neighbors...:) I just had my first sonogram this week, and the baby is moving around and waving its arms and legs, which is incredible considering he/she is still only about 3 inches long. I'm due around Thanksgiving, and Matt and I are both really happy and excited.

Also, I'm so happy to get to finally announce this in the letter, because there are so many funny stories to tell you that have come up in the last few months that I've been HIDING. Being pregnant for the first time is strange enough, and doing it in a foreign country brings with it all sorts of other new things that basically are hilarious - well, now they are. At the time, some not so much. But NOW - hilarious. A warning - as with lots of talk about pregnancy and such, there will be some personal stuff coming up. No, not that personal! But I will be talking about birthing centers and pregnancy tests and whatnot. Avert your eyes if you want.

THE PARIS LETTER: Helsinki

Hello everyone -

And now, the letter I know you've all been waiting for - our trip to HELSINKI. Oh, Helsinki. In Finland. Yes. Its sort of like Scandinavia, and sort of like Russia, and also it's own thing. Some of you may remember, this is a trip we postponed from November - Our friend Johanna was in Helsinki in November presenting a Translation Prize from the Susan Sontag Foundation, and we decided to go visit her - because, heck, when will we have another chance to go to Helsinki? But then I got sick, and we postponed the trip to Easter weekend - figuring it might be a better time to be in the world's second-northernmost capital (after Reykjavik).

Even at the end of April Helsinki had snow on the ground, though it was mostly melted - weather was actually beautiful when we were there, sunny and in thethe mid to high sixties, which was apparently unseasonably warm for Easter in the Finnish capital. It seemed like everyone was either out biking/running/kayaking, or sitting outside enjoying a twelve-pack of Koff beer with friends. Indeed, beer picnics seemed like the most widespread pastime - and Finland actually has decent beer, much to our surprise.