THE SANTA FE ACCUEIL NEWSLETTER

February 2013 The Santa Fe Accueil Newsletter is about Santa Fe Accueils activities and other information relevant to French culture in the Santa Fe area. It is informal (no fancy editing), with some sections in English, others in French. It is issued during the first week of most months. We encourage submissions and comments from readers, either in French or in English. The statements, reviews, articles and information included in this newsletter are selected by the Editor, and no endorsement is implied by either the Editor or Santa Fe Accueil. The Newsletter is currently produced by Volunteer Editor Franois-Marie Patorni. If you have any question about the newsletter, please contact me at fmpatorni@earthlink.net or at 505984-9125. Thanks to Romi, the new website is ready. Click for here. The website's address is
www.bienvenuesantafe.org.

Bonjour tous, hello everyone ! Message from our new president As most of you know, we have a new president, Isabelle Thibaut. Welcome Isabelle! Many volunteered to join the new board, and others volunteered to lead activities. However, we still need more volunteers. Details will be posted on the website.
Dear Friends, First and foremost, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you in your participation as a member, volunteer, or simply as guests in our events, all of which constitute the lifeblood of our organization here in Santa Fe. Please tell everybody that you know about Santa Fe Accueil and help us reach a larger community of Francophiles/Francophones here in Santa Fe and beyond. We depend on your proactive participation. At the minimum, we want Santa Fe Accueil to become a well-recognized local, real and tangible social-networking group, with a theme and focus on the French language, culture and food. If this means that we are going to be recognized as the group that throws the biggest and best parties in town, then we welcome that image as well. We would like you all to be the ambassadors of our message. I encourage you all to visit our NEW website, with a newer, clearer layout and hopefully more clear message of who we are and what we do (www.bienvenuesantafe.org). Next, I would like to give you some of the latest information regarding Santa Fe Accueil. First of all our board grew this year and here are the board members and few of the volunteers (What a team!): Isabelle Thiebaut: President Reza Shekarriz: Vice President Romi Sloboda: Secretary Xavier Grenet: treasurer Natalie Bonnard-Grenet: Board Member Ccile Toccoli: Board Member, volunteer for potluck coordinator Franoise Becker: Board Member

Cline Lepluart-Kamm: Board Member Joalie Davie: Board Member Lydie Cavalier: Board Member Franois-Marie Patorni: Volunteer, in charge of our Newsletter Bruce Ingram: Volunteer, also associated with meet up French conversation

To have a growing community and association, we always need more volunteers (so join us for the next potluck and sign up to volunteer for activities!) AND MEMBERS, meaning that you need to get your membership! The membership allows us to not only pay the basic fees of an association (e.g., website, insurance, etc.) but also to organize more events. Your membership will give you access to all the potlucks for free, to receive the newsletter announcing all the events in our community, to have discounts in some businesses and activities in Santa Fe area and to advertise on our NEW website (designed by Romi, thanks A BUNCH!) and Newsletter. If you haven't paid your membership yet, you can find the form at the end of this newsletter or go onto our new website. You will then receive your membership card (that you will need to have membership privileges) at the next potluck in March! Our last potluck at Helene's beautiful house was a huge success. It was well-organized and a very nice celebration for this New Year and a new beginning, with as usual amazing food and drinks (meme du vin chaud!!!). Thank you again Helene for hosting the potluck. We were happy to welcome new comers as well as "old comers"! Helene will consider having another pot luck during the summer along the nice outdoor swimming pool (thank you again). The highlights for the next upcoming months will be announced on our website. Please make an effort to visit our website regularly. The French Film Salon will be February 7th at 7pm and we anticipate our next potlucks to be in March, May and July (details will be announced). Also, La Fte de la Musique will be in June (we need A LOT of volunteer to make it BIG and FUN!!!). We will post a list of planned activities on our website and we look forward to receiving comments and feedback from you on all activities. I hope I will see all of you and your friends very soon. Isabelle Thiebaut

LATEST NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS Renew your Santa Fe Accueil membership!

Single $25, Family $35. Bring your checkbook at the Potluck or Happy Hour, or send your payment by check to Santa Fe Accueil, PO Box 31041 - Santa Fe, NM 87594

French morsel of the month and announcement:

Do you know Frenchy's Field along the Santa Fe River, a couple of miles down Agua Fria? Frenchy's real name was Bernard Parachou (1895-1983), he was from the French Pays Basque. The Franciscans sold the 16 acre parcel to Frenchy in exchange of a regular supply of milk (I know a person who remembers Frenchy's cows). Frenchy later sold his farm, which was finally acquired by the City of Santa Fe in 1986. Frenchy is remembered as a quiet uncontroversial man.

Celebrate Frenchy:

Above: Santa Fe Accueil river stewards. Xavier and Nathalie are in the center. The Santa Fe Watershed Association welcomes you to the Love Your River Day community clean-up event at Frenchy's Field on Feb. 16th, 10-12 a.m. Come and touch the hallowed ground grazed by Frenchy's cows.

CALENDAR
Recurring events Every week: Caf Rencontre, parlons franais. The venue has reverted to La Fonda, still every Wednesday at 3:30pm. Please contact David Mainland (david@mainlandlaw.com) to be on his mailing list. Every month: French Toast/Happy Hour. On the 2nd Thursday of every month at Azur restaurant on 428 Agua Fria. From 5:30pm to 7pm. Mark your calendars for February 14. Every other month: Potlucks for the upcoming year are scheduled as follows, in principle alternatively at noon for a picnic or lunch, and 5pm for dinner. 2013 The last potluck at Hlne Poe's House was awesome, Merci Hlne! The next potluck is scheduled on March 24 (not March 17 as previously expected) at 5pm at Nonnie's house. Those who want to attend please RSVP to Ccile (cecile.toccoli@hotmail.fr ) to get the address. Please also mark your calendars for these potlucks, in principle on the following dates: May 19 = at noon - Please volunteer to be the host. July 14 = 5pm - Please volunteer to be the host. Please volunteer to host and/or organize an upcoming potluck. Special French Cooking Class On February 12th--Valentine's Day Theme! Only open to Santa Fe Accueil Members: $30 per person on Tuesday, February 12th. The class will be held at the home of chef Xavier Grenet at 4:35pm, menu to be determined. Space is limited to 12-15 persons, and RSVPs must be closed by February 5th. Please contact: BienvenueSantaFe@gmail.com

The Santa Fe French Language Meet-Up Organized by Santa Fe Accueil member Bruce Ingram, it meets at the Agave Lounge at the El Dorado Hotel. For dates and time, please go to http://www.meetup.com/The-Santa-Fe-FrenchLanguage-Meetup-Group/

Annonces Cinma:
AMOUR THE AWARD-WINNING FILM BY MICHAEL HANEKE A masterpiece about life, death and everything in between, Michael Hanekes Amour takes a long, hard, tender look at an elderly French couple, Georges and Anne played by two titans of French cinema, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva in their final days. DATE: Thursday, February 7 TIME: 7:00PM - Film Salon Discussion and Reception following film PLACE: Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe. PRICE: $12 per ticket: Benefit for Santa Fe Accueil and CCA!
Reservations recommended: by phone or online: 982-1338 Click for website: CCA

If you wish to coordinate a reception, please contact Karen at karenusr@aol.com.

Other at CCA:
The Rabbi's Cat In 1930s Algeria-an intersection of Jewish, Arab and French culture-a cat belonging to a widowed rabbi and his beautiful daughter, eats the family parrot. Suddenly, he has the gift of gab ... and of a biting wit. Joann Sfar adapts her popular graphic novel in collaboration with Antoine Delesvaux, following cross continent adventure from the tiled terraces, fountains, quays and cafes of colonial Algiers to Maghrebi tent camps, dusty trading outposts, and deep blue Saharan nights in search of a lost Ethiopian city and capturing the colors, textures, flavors and music of Mediterranean Africa. Winner, Best Animation, French Cesar awards. (France, 2011, 89m, in French with subtitles)

Quelques annonces anciennes rptes:

Franoise Becker cherche toujours une remplaante Je cherche une remplaante pour enseigner un groupe de conversation franaise du 28 fvrier au 23 mai. Ce groupe compos de femmes se runit les jeudis matins de 10h a 11h30. Les lves parlent trs bien franais et nous lisons des uvres de la littrature franaise contemporaine. Si cela vous intresse, svp contacter Franoise Becker (tel: 986 1358, email: francoisebecker@gmail.com) Nathalie teaches YOGA at 2879 Plaza Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87507 Every Tuesdays 5:30 PM 6:45 PM www.successoftheheart.com Maud Sjournant a encore quelques places pour deux voyages phnomnaux / Two phenomenal trips

Ouzbekistan (12 au 23 avril) and Islande (7 au 17 juillet). Download her brochure (worth seeing even if you have no plan to go there!), click here.

French savoir vivre and etiquette

One of our members asked me to write a little piece about the following question: How to address people in French? Je vous dis "tu" ou je te dis "vous"? And more complicated, should you kiss people when you greet them, and how? Who takes the initiative? One cheek of two cheeks? And what about the "baisemain" ? These questions are very difficult to master for non native speakers, and become tricky even for French people who have spent a long time abroad. But relax you will never be sure that you are doing it right. So here is my take There is a pretty good summary of the principles at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E2%80%93V_distinction#French It goes into some details including how to address the Virgin Mary. Another very readable summary, in French, is at http://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-11009.php There is, however, no magic, one has to practice in real or simulated situations. When unsure, if your interlocutor has not suggested that you use "tu", just keep saying "vous". About kissing and other things, there is a fun primer written by a Swede (I think) at http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0505/working_and_living_do_and_ donts_in_france.shtml . Finally, you can learn everything about the baisemain at http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baisemain Perhaps we could have a little role play and practice session during one of the upcoming Caf Rencontre at La Fonda ... See you soon at the potluck or Happy Hours, Franois-Marie