The summer has so far been a very active one. With all the energy generated by two 20-somethings who are determined to have a well-rounded European experience which seems to entail studying hard during the mornings and early afternoons, working out, spending time at the beach - a real challenge given that the weather has not been beach-inspiring - attending concerts (the Montreux Jazz Festival and the recent Paléo Festival), sightseeing, and travelling (Marseille and Paris), it has been a whirlwind.
This past week, in particular, has seen more events than usual. First, a well-travelled cousin and one of her work colleagues stopped by for a night on their way from Zermatt, after having spent time in Munich and Salzburg. And late last evening, my sister, mother to my niece, and a friend, mother to my niece's chum, arrived after a long journey from Billings, MT. Before the moms could barely even catch their respective breaths, they were whisked off to Paris for a long weekend with their daughters. As they are currently in full jet lag mode, this represents true maternal sacrifice. Monday, 1 August, is the Swiss National Holiday, so the girls are taking advantage of the long weekend to see the bright lights, sights and sounds of la Ville-Lumière (the City of Light). They have only four days of classes remaining before their course will be finished.
In the meantime, nearly three weeks ago, one of my last remaining "irons in the fire" actually burst into flame so that I received a job offer to teach a course at a local university. Of course, I am delighted at this prospect. Otherwise, it was fairly obvious that my economic situation would be precarious to such an extent that I would have to return to the US, at least for a time, and rent out the apartment. The situation has occurred not least because the USD is at such incredible - previously unforeseeable - lows. The shenanigans of the totally irresponsible Republican Representatives in the US Congress have done nothing but exacerbate the situation. Those people are literally insane. I have never been so thoroughly ashamed of so many of my countrypersons in my life. (I have certainly been ashamed before by the actions of some, but right now the numbers of full-blown certifiable idiots are unprecedented.) They do not deserve to be called adults. Their silly actions and rabid pronouncements demonstrate that they are barely out of diapers emotionally and in full-blown Terrible Two stage. They also represent racism rampant and that may be the crux of the matter.
In any event, the job offer is contingent on my presenting a sample lesson satisfactorily next week, so the time left after - finally - completing my write-ups on the wonderful trip to Italy from the spring has been spent in research, writing and basically outlining the parameters of the course. Now that all my visitors have left for the weekend, I will be devoting my time specifically to preparing the sample lesson, complete with Powerpoint presentation. This will be a challenge. I have given Powerpoint presentations before, but always with the assistance of very able staff who have prepared the slides for me. Now I'm on my own.
I've worked my way through the Windows tutorial and will try my hand at producing some slides this weekend. Fortunately, HWMBO is used to guiding my long-distance learning even though he is hardly enthusiastic about the prolongation of my stay - at least until December. It's also been too long since I've seen the grandbabies, who are growing up much too fast. Even Baby Prince Attani shows signs of wanting to walk even before his nine month marker that will occur in August. So, I've scheduled a brief return to the US in August, but must be back in September to begin teaching my course.
I'll take some time to post some recent photos of the grandbabies over the weekend, but will likely not post much else until my lesson has been presented and, hopefully, I have a signed contract in hand! Besides, once my visitors return next week, the week's other activities will dominate my energy.
Please wish me luck!
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