Monday, November 23, 2009

Food, soccer, and trains

Saturday's chili supper was a success! We had 13 people total with 3 different kinds of chili and a gazillion toppings and desserts. Yesterday we had a church potluck after service, and Friday we had lunch at the Hendrixes, so we have had 3 days in a row of really, really good food!

The last few days the big news here has been the two World-Cup qualifying soccer wins last week- France, and Algeria. France's win is really controversial because there was an obvious "guided goal." Even the player admits that he touched the ball with his hand, but since the ref didn't see it, it won't be changed. According to this morning's paper, over 2/3 of French people are unhappy and embarrassed about the win. Had that goal not counted, Ireland would be going to the World Cup. If the French aren't happy about it, I can't imagine how the Irish are reacting. The other big win was Algeria. There are many, many Algerians living in France, and Algerian's independence from France is still relatively recent, so when the Algerians start getting rowdy, the French get very nervous. So, in Lyon, result of the victory started with celebrating... then rioting, windows being hit with bricks, 40 cars set on fire, and finally tear gas by the police. Where we live, we could hear horns randomly honking through the night, but that was about it. We can't even imagine what the results would be like if France and Algeria play each other in the World Cup...

The train line we take to work is undergoing construction today until December 4th. So, our normal morning trains were cancelled this morning. I decided to take an earlier train.. and get here 2 hours early. Doug decided to wait and take a replacement bus, which will take an hour and a half (instead of the normal 35 minute train ride). C'est la vie en France!

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