It is done like so.

I'm legal! I got my titre de sejour today, and it feels like I accomplished something.



Now, if I can just get my internet working and my window fixed, I will feel much better.

Unrelated but also happy news, I am headed home for Christmas! Thanks, Mom and Dad. I will come bearing gifts.

In the Haut Jura, where I live, the regional cuisine is all peasant-y and delicious. It involves a lot of potatoes and meat and cheese. These are all foods that please me, so I think I wound up in the right part of France. I tracked down a recipe for a favorite local dish, and I will be making it in Valparaiso over break. So, if you're around, you can try my first attempt.

I'm really happy to be going home for Christmas, because despite my independent streak, I always feel terribly homesick when I'm away from Valpo for too long. The French term for homesickness is mal de pays, and I am sick for America too. The only prescription is a visit home once every four or five months. Valparaiso, Indiana will always be magic to me.

When a moment redeems a day.

I was having a terrible (some would go so far as to say shitty) day yesterday. I got stuck in the immigration office for several hours. I forget that I am an immigrant here sometimes. It is a pain. I think everyone should have to go through this stuff in a foreign country though, if only to understand how deeply important something so mindnumbingly dull can be. I had to stand in line for six hours yesterday, getting pushed between windows and offices. The kind officers could not find the form I needed, so I have to go back this afternoon. At least I have appointment this time. Anyway, this is the form that says I can legally work. It is something worth standing in line for, but yesterday, I was just feeling like giving up and maybe being illegal. Not really. My parents raised me right, but I hate this paperwork stuff sometimes.

When I got home, the window in the living room had blown open and shattered all over the floor. I swept up the glass, cut my hands, and mountain air invaded the apartment. Freezing and bloody, I set off to find something to distract myself, so I went to check the mail. A note informed me that I had a package... somewhere. So, I bandaided myself as best I could, shoved on some gloves and an extra sweater, and set out to find it. A little French quest. After riding two buses, and stopping at three wrong post offices, I found the right one, and I got my box.

Mom, you are at the top of my list right now. That package could not have come at a better time. I put on that new hoodie, and I felt like the world was as it should be. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was on the verge of tears, and I felt like France was kicking my ass yesterday. You fixed it- my day, I mean. And today I was able to smile at work, wearing my favorite jacket.

Top Five Reasons My Mom Is the Best in the Land

1. That glorious package she just sent me.
2. Excellent Scrabble player.
3. Linda Cronk makes perfect snickerdoodles.
4. There is that thing where she has excellent, discerning taste in media of all kinds.
5. I love her.

That is all for today. I am going to try my hardest to get a work permit today.