Always waiting for a ride!

I am truly blessed to be living in Saint Germain-en-Laye. As you have seen in my pictures, it is a beautiful, vibrant place. I live more in the county than the city, hence why I drive a car. Many of the other au pairs live in the city and walk from place to place. There are pros and cons to both, but I feel very fortunate. To get to my neighborhood, I must drive through a wooded area, for a few miles. Because I am picking up the kids, dropping them off at activities, going to the market and such, I drive through this wooded area several times a day. Often I see a girl sitting at the turn around area in the woods, waiting for a ride. I have even thought about offering one to her, after seeing that she has been there several hours. Because of the language barrier, and safety risk, I haven't... but I often have felt bad for her.

The other day, my host mother took me to the library so I could check out some DVDs. She suggested that I watch one each week with french subtitles so I can see and hear the french at the same time. She did this to improve her english. ***If you have any suggestions of historical english films for her, please comment!*** Anyway, we were driving to the library and I saw the girl again. I told my host mother how she is always sitting there, waiting for her ride. My host mother laughed and told me that she wasn't waiting for anyone in particular. She was working. Working!?! How could I have been so naive? She was a prostitute. I didn't realize that was legal in France. My host mother then explained that it is legal in the wooded areas of Saint Germain. Wow...

Yesterday I was driving back home after dropping off the kids and I saw a man walk out of the woods at the turn around. She followed him. Out loud in my car, I burst into nervous laughter. It was so awkward. Crazy!

Now to talk about something completly unrelated: I started language classes. I can't believe how much I have learned so far. It is incredible. I got lost the other day walking around Saint Germain, and was able to ask a stranger how to get back to the area where my car was located. Also, I went to the market today to get some cheese. The cheese was incorrectly priced. I was able to tell her the correct price on the shelf. When the clerk refused to give me the shelf price, or even check for that matter, I was able to tell her that I no longer wanted it. Yay!