Lesson #124: Don't drink tap water after a hurricane.

By the time someone warned me not to drink the water after a hurricane, it was too late. I had already drank lots of tap water and I felt fine. Besides, I eat a crapload of fruit here, and my immune system is already comparable to superman. 

Later that night, I became violently ill. 

Two days later, I am forcing myself to go to work, since the heads of school are coming to my class to see my teaching methods, and to determine if they will write a recommendation for me to return to a second year of teaching in La Reunion. 

Being sick gives you lots of time to sleep, have crazy medicine-induced dreams (like when i jumped off a tower of a sinking pirate ship at night under some pretty amazing shooting starts, and as we were swimming through the ocean back to shore, a really badass, slick, batman-like jet swooped down into the water to rescue us, but we were already to the shore.) And being sick gives you lots of time to think about the future. I did turn in my request to come back to La Reunion for a second year, and that is currently my first choice. However, I heard funding was cut from the program and next year will see 20 less assistants on the island. So...if the program Visa should fall through, here are some other ideas running through my head in regards to the future...

1.)  Apply for a general work visa from the Chamber of Commerce and then try to find a job in France (Easiest possibility would be Paris, I think?). Or maybe I could even use it to come back to Reunion...I've had a couple of friends here with connections asking for me to stay permanently as an English teacher...

2.) Go back to the states, but move to California. I fell in love with San Francisco when I visited last summer. I felt totally at home there. They also have a French Embassy there and a big French community. Hopefully, I could teach high school French. Maybe I could even try closer to L.A., or San Diego, since I have some friends there...

3.) The easiest thing would be to stay in Texas. I have friends there, I know the area, I have good acting/modeling connections, and...all my crap is there. I guess I could see myself living maybe in downtown Dallas and being happy. I'd find a nice place within walking distance to like a farmer's market and the fromagerie and a park and maybe I could make it work there :-)

But there are major pros to staying in France.

First, it is way more easy to find a job teaching in your native language than your second language. I could find a job teaching English super fast here, and I have a feeling I'll have a pretty hard time becoming a French teacher in the states, for more than one reason. It will at least take a year to be certified to teach...and how will I support myself during that time?

The friends I've made in Reunion are some of the best friends I've made in my life. Touching on the subject of relationships from last week...I really feel like the French have a much better grasp on relationships. They are more giving, more emotional, and less selfish. They really love each other. Their relationships with the people around them are the center of their lives, not work, money, school or obligations. Dinner isn't just a meal. It's an 8 hour bonding experience where you share your life with people you love. I love that. And I know it will never be like that back in the states. Especially when everyone is always on a diet, counting calories, or just not eating dinner (like my last 3 boyfriends...and, okay, okay, my pre-Reunion self too.)

In general, I just love the french way of life. Things seem easier here. The little things are important, and people really seem to cherish each other.

But if I stay on this island...I'll never be able to act again. Or at least not for like ten years, when I have not only mastered French, but Creole as well, and even then, the theaters here are not especially impressive. Plus, it's so expensive to leave the island, and so far away...it will be hard to travel, especially all the way back to the states...and the island is really small...BUT on the other hand, I'd be living in tropical paradise forever...scuba diving every weekend, beaches, horseback riding, sun......!!!!!!!!!

Decisions, decisions. I feel really lucky, at least, that with any direction I choose, I will be going down a path I really love, following a dream I've had for all of my life, living passionately and being happy. How many people can say that? I'm so so lucky.