independance

jj and her double (the other violin playing girl from boston, with asian mom) met today to hang out. the double was coming on her own from the 16th via metro and they would rendezvous at the school at 2:30. as j was leaving, she asked, what time should i be back? i said, “i don’t know, how about 10:00”? she laughed. then i said, “how about 7:00?”
the 2 girls went to get ice cream down the street and then walked around the neighborhood, doing a little shopping.

what we find amazing is how quickly everything has changed. suddenly jj is heading out of the house to go wandering around freely on her own. i remember last year when some of the parents at the school in cambridge were discussing whether they would let their kids go to harvard square on their own and here we are a year later, and she’s free to wander in paris. well, not all of paris yet, but i’m sure soon enough, paris will be her playground.

i had gone out and when i came back, p told me they might be going to a movie. “really? a movie? on their own?” i was a bit taken aback. i imagined them getting on the metro and heading to the center of town, but it turns out there is a little cinema in the neighborhood. it made me realize that we hadn’t discussed parameters. so later, i told her that she should text me if she ever decides to go further afield that our little “quartier”. and she replied “i’ll try to remember”. (meaning she’s so comfortable wandering further that she wouldn’t even think about it?)

she and her friend decided to go to the grocery store to buy a big bottle of nutella, and i told her to pick up some porc at the butchers for dinner. it was a good challenge. i told her to ask for some slices of “porc roti” which i thought was how you said roast pork (because roast chicken is “poulet roti”). the butcher didn’t understand. she said it again “porc roti”. he was confused. then another lady asked “roti de porc?” oh! THAT’s what you want. hard to figure that one out! then he asked something that sounded like “croo-oo-cui” - which stumped her. she didn’t understand. “croo-oo-cui” he asked again. she said she didn’t know. then he showed her a raw one (cru) and a cooked one (cuit) – (“cru ou cuit”). oh! – she guessed that i wanted it cooked. anyway, it was an achievement and great that she had her friend there for support. Print this post