SVP, may I have some water, SVP...please, may I have some water, please....my BIG accent is always sticking out.
Anyway, after lunch we met the kids ( 26 total) and walked a few blocks to get into the woods.
( but first, we met in the teachers room and had espresso ! No one was doing anything without espresso)
One teacher is strict and the other teacher is not...she is more eccentric. ( the eccentric one is " pied noir" or black feet. She is french, but was born in Africa ) while having coffee, I learned a new phrase....dusk = between a dog and a wolf. Entre une chienne et un loup. ...intéressant .
We walked the 5 blocks or so, very safely as the one teacher keeps after the kids like a Mother hen....watch out for the puddle, stay on this side of the street, watch when you cross....like they are babies. The kids are all very respectful and obedient.
I was not sure how to integrate myself into the group. We came to a path that led us into the woods. We stopped, took our coats off and had a little talk . We had brought some props...last minute, I picked up some tinsel and brought some plastic crystal stars. We also had origami papers. The kids spread out and I tried to go to each one and take a look at what they were shooting. I had my camera and showed them some interesting things they could try. Some kids had phones, some, nice cameras....it was a mix. I felt bad that one boy had a low battery and a crappy phone and couldn't take pics...I will make it up to him.
It was so interesting to see what each one came up with. They were enthusiastic and were anxious to show me what they shot. I loved it. I went from person to person working with each one, feeling out the limit of their attention span. There was one boy that was not doing anything. I tried to get him interested ...perhaps I sparked a little something in him. He told me that he preferred sports.
They didn't know what to call me...Caroyl, Miss, Mrs....I spoke in french mostly and some English , but I asked them to correct me and they did. One boy kept saying "si si" I had to remind him that I am not Italian. They kept calling for me to look at what they shot....I was more than happy to.
After about 2 hours, I felt like the kids attention span was mostly finished ( except for a few kids.) I forget that these kids spend hours and hours in the classroom often not finishing till 6 pm. It's just the way it is in France.
At one point 2 kids screamed that they saw a deer with big antlers on the edge of where we were shooting...everyone had a camera and no one got the shot.
It seems as though, in France, they employ the "time out". One boy kept getting more and more wound up and he had to go sit off to the side for 10 minutes or so away from everyone.
My attention span was waning. Luckily, I was asked to take some pics of the kids. I was able to take some really lovely portraits of all of them. The light was so beautiful, lighting up their beautiful young eyes. I am so interested now in people and their personalities. I was able to catch a small flicker of essence in the portraits.
There were so many good looking kids that were too shy and self conscious. It was sweet how the girls wanted to have their pics taken with their best friend....it was so interesting to get up close and see their spirits. I captured sadness, self consciousness, strength, fleeting childhood, shyness, hope and so much more in these portraits.
After the woods, so many kids were still enthusiastic...talking about possible projects, looking at things differently. I went back to the classroom with them for another 45 minutes of talk.
They thanked me and gave me a gift, a beautiful scarf, for helping them.
I am to meet them in Nice to see an exhibit of Cartier Bresson in January.
******************************************
After, I stopped at my garagiste to reschedule working on my car. All of a sudden, I see a white dog running through the garage and my friend who is the receptionist, Laure, hot in pursuit.
It seems that a white french bull dog got loose from somewhere and she had chased it into the garage. She and I corralled it ....then we both jumped in my car and went to the vet that was near by.
This dog was strong. I held him tight but he pushed and pushed. It took 3 of the nurses to hold him. But, they scanned him, found his chip ( puce) and called his mother. It was the 5th dog is 6 days that I have seen loose. It was nice to have a little adventure with Laure. She is very sweet and patient with my french. She gave me a big hug...not the usual in france...
I am so happy to make connections with people as I am usually so alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment