First off, devinette is a guess (forgot to tell you/create a new mot du jour on the last post).
I have to swallow my words about the soirée at Chicoutimi being my favorite night of the program; the next was even better! L'Impro competition was absolutely amazing. Both teams played their hearts out, and it wound up being a legitimate tie at the end. My team rocked. We played sooo well together, and we created some really cool beats. The first round started with a head-to-head country theme. Both teams had to make a country medley with a "stampede" theme. The handicap was: gallop or ballad. L'equip vert (green team) won the coin toss and chose gallop, so my blue team went first and concocted a killer country ballad. Mike started on guitar in the key of C, I came in on harmonica, Jon rocked les batterie, the other Carolyn added the piano, and Anna sang the vocals. When the audience was asked to hold up a card for the team they wanted to vote for after both teams had played, it was a sea of blue. Great start team!
Throughout the night, we won some and lost some and had a ton of fun. One extremely memorable moment was when we had to play a jazz ballad in the theme of "Le Plus Long Baiser" (longest kiss)...a cappella. I played the drums with my voice, Anna and Carolyn sang a harmony, and Jon and Mike aced the cake with an extremely real-looking fake makeout session. People literally fell out of their chairs from laughing.
Another memorable moment was when there was a melange (mix) round where both teams play at the same time. The theme was punk music with a noir tempo (black). Each team had to commence with only one musician on the stage, and the others could slowly walk onto the stage and join in one at a time. The mixed improvs are always a little tough because you never get to consult with the other team, only the 30 second consultation with your own team. My team and I agreed it was vital that I start for our team and run to the drum set, because Malcolm on the other team would want to play drum set also, and we'd have a better chance of winning the round if he had to play something else (punk and metal music are his speciality). As soon as Heather (the referee) blew the whistle, I ran for the drums...and so did Malcolm! We got there at literally the same moment and almost fell off the drum stool trying to fight for the set (I think there's a video on facebook). As a penalty, Heather decided neither of us could play the drum set for that round, but we both had to play something else and start the round for our teams. Malcolm started on vocals and I pounded the bongos. Bongos and dark punk music are not the best mix; my hands were killing me afterwards (and my throat, since I added some screaming vocals for good measure). Definitely worth it.
Ahh...what a great night. Every single improv challenge was awesome, and everyone had a great time. In the end, four players were chosen as les étoiles (the stars) of the night. Eva was the 4th place star, Mike was 3rd, Malcolm was the premiere star, and I was #2 for being able to play a bunch of unique instruments well. Woo!
The next day was the trip to the Fjord en arbres. The Fjord is an extreme high ropes/kayaking place here at Lac Saint-Jean. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to do the super extreme course, but the ones we did do were really cool. There were tons of ziplines, a little bit of rock climbing, and a lot of high wires and stairs that required a lot of upper body strength. The best was the very last zipline, which I'm pretty sure was close to a mile long. I managed to stay really straight the whole way and picked up a lot of speed, so when I reached the end I rebounded off the pad and had to turn around in the air and pull myself back to the base. I'm glad I do a few push-ups almost every day; a lot of people were complaining about soreness the next day but not me!
That night, I hung out chez Jon et Mike (at Jon and Mike's house) and we just parler (talked) for hours. It was cool; their père d'acceuil is an English/French/Latin professor, and I learned a lot talking with him and the guys, who are both more advanced in the French language than I am. I love being surrounded by French and soaking it all in like that!
Yesterday, I experienced La tourtière du Lac Saint-Jean. La tourtière is a meat-filled pastry somewhat like a shepard's pie. Usually it's served with blueberry pie for dessert, but we ate crèpes with des fraises (strawberries) and crème glacée (ice cream). I felt kinda priviledged to take part in the feast; not tout le monde (everyone) was invited! Those who came had to bring something, so I made peach salsa. Remember the recipe for salsa du mangue? Salsa du pêche is exactly the same, just use peach in place of mango and pineapple, and leave out the cilantro (I would've added it, but there was none at ma maison!). Combined with Mike's homemade hummus and cumcumber, the appetizers disappeared very quickly!
Today, I taught my class how to make an edible fire. Thank you Girl Scouts for teaching me how to make and eat a fire! :) I used pretzels for sticks, graham crackers for logs, raisins for the rocks for the fire circle, cereal flakes for tinder, and orange slices for the flames. Everyone liked my presentation and I think I got a good great (which is good since it's worth a good portion of my final grade for the course!).
Anyway, possibly going au cinema in a bit, so I should probably go. Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal for the final concert, and afterwards...ahhh. I can't believe this is the final week. I'm not ready to leave. But anyway. Movie in a bit. Au revoir!
Oh! Phrase du jour: Il y a beaucoup des choses cette semaine! Je suis très occupée.
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