I'm here in Montreal on a 10-day "projects block" trip with six freshman girls from the high school where I teach, as well as the school's French teacher (she's awesome and, while not CF, is a very youthful 50-something empty-nester). After a week in Montreal, we'll be going to Quebec City for a few days for more of the same. In each town, the girls are doing a service project each afternoon (working in a homeless shelter or tutoring 1st and 2nd graders in underprivileged schools). The rest of the time is sightseeing and fun. We rented a beautiful townhous via Craigslist and I get my own room in a very funky neighborhood. This, for the moment, is "work" (have I mentioned lately that my job kinda rocks?).
Just bought the Quebec edition of the May Elle magazine...not only to practice my French, but because one of the headlines on the cover caught my eye:
ON DIT OUI AUX ENFANTS: 20 bonnes raisons d'en avoir
("We say yes to children: 20 good reasons to have them").
All the usual "bingo"-type reasons are in there..."parenting makes you a better person", etc. But I take it as a good sign that this issue is "on the table" and no longer a given. Even here in nominally Catholic French Canada, where the party line is family, family, family, birthrates are falling.
(Good).
