Week One.
My first week back in France has officially ended and I'd say it went rather well.
I managed to get out of the house enough last week to stay sane and stay in enough to feel rested.
Last week, Helena, Licia and I went to an art opening at this small gallery near Licia's hip hop dance school and it was so classy. We drank champagne and looked at vibrant paintings by Bolek Budzyn who was there in the flesh. I didn't talk to him but Helena did and apparently he thinks he's...
Other than that, the weekdays were uneventful.
Well Friday night I decided to go out and I'm so glad I did! Brendan(Irish friend) had some people over to his apt so I met him and Jeremy(American friend) there instead of Supermarket thank god. There were like 6 French people there too, but I spent most of the time catching up with my pretty drunk guy friends. I was so flattered b/c they both were so happy to see me and kept telling me how funny I was and glad they are I'm back. I usually hate Irish people, but Brendan said that since I left all my FB statuses made him laugh and be jeal that I'm so funny so I love him now. It was such an ego boost and makes me so excited. I didn't really drink and dropped them and a couple friends at Supermarket around 3am then went home all giddy about my "new" friends.
It's so perf too b/c they have lots of French friends and I can hang out with them and speak French socially and actch improve. I have this dream now that I'm going to become their third Musketeer and the 3 of us are gonna be bffs. Of course there's some kinda history that could complicate things, but I'm rly hoping to be their female counterpart/tagalong b/c that's my favorite role. Esp when the people I'm with think I'm funny. Haha eehhhh this makes me sound so vainnnnn. But really it's just such a relief to know that I have friends here already. I didn't have ANY friends for the first 6 months of my last stay in France so this rly changes things already.
In other news, there's a huge strike going on all over France. The oil refineries are striking so getting gas is a problem and truckers are slowing down the flow of traffic on the interstates! The transit system is on strike sporadically anyway so that's not such a big deal, but the high school students are striking too! We live in an apt across the street from a high school and yesterday morning was quite a show. The entire street was filled with students and there were police in riot gear blocking the entrance to the school. The students were chanting and singing, burning trash, and mainly just hanging out with each other, but then the police tried to get them to disperse. It obvs didn't work so the cops brought out the tear gas and the students bolted, but came back! This time with a vengeance! They started throwing eggs and rocks at the police line, so Helena and I went down to move the car from the street into our courtyard. The cops were standing right by our gate and told us to get back inside but we quickly moved the car and returned to safety unscathed. The whole stand off only lasted about an hour, but the kids were getting violent. In other parts of the city kids overturned cars and lit things on fire.
All this b/c the gov't wants to change the retirement age from 60 to 62. I mean...I must admit I do admire the willingness of kids to get involved and care even slightly about politics. High school kids in the US wouldn't even know about pension reform and def wouldn't care even if they did. But it's simply a French tradition to take to the streets; I doubt students are fully aware of the implications or remotely interested in becoming so.
Starting next week is the Halloween vacay, which lasts 2 weeks. The kids will be with Marc for one of these weeks so I've got that time off. Now. What should I do with that time?? I should go somewhere cause I won't have ANYTHING to do. Suggestions?
Now I'm off to buy a razor b/c I was trying to remember the last time I shaved and I sincerely cannot.
I managed to get out of the house enough last week to stay sane and stay in enough to feel rested.
Last week, Helena, Licia and I went to an art opening at this small gallery near Licia's hip hop dance school and it was so classy. We drank champagne and looked at vibrant paintings by Bolek Budzyn who was there in the flesh. I didn't talk to him but Helena did and apparently he thinks he's...
Other than that, the weekdays were uneventful.
Well Friday night I decided to go out and I'm so glad I did! Brendan(Irish friend) had some people over to his apt so I met him and Jeremy(American friend) there instead of Supermarket thank god. There were like 6 French people there too, but I spent most of the time catching up with my pretty drunk guy friends. I was so flattered b/c they both were so happy to see me and kept telling me how funny I was and glad they are I'm back. I usually hate Irish people, but Brendan said that since I left all my FB statuses made him laugh and be jeal that I'm so funny so I love him now. It was such an ego boost and makes me so excited. I didn't really drink and dropped them and a couple friends at Supermarket around 3am then went home all giddy about my "new" friends.
It's so perf too b/c they have lots of French friends and I can hang out with them and speak French socially and actch improve. I have this dream now that I'm going to become their third Musketeer and the 3 of us are gonna be bffs. Of course there's some kinda history that could complicate things, but I'm rly hoping to be their female counterpart/tagalong b/c that's my favorite role. Esp when the people I'm with think I'm funny. Haha eehhhh this makes me sound so vainnnnn. But really it's just such a relief to know that I have friends here already. I didn't have ANY friends for the first 6 months of my last stay in France so this rly changes things already.
In other news, there's a huge strike going on all over France. The oil refineries are striking so getting gas is a problem and truckers are slowing down the flow of traffic on the interstates! The transit system is on strike sporadically anyway so that's not such a big deal, but the high school students are striking too! We live in an apt across the street from a high school and yesterday morning was quite a show. The entire street was filled with students and there were police in riot gear blocking the entrance to the school. The students were chanting and singing, burning trash, and mainly just hanging out with each other, but then the police tried to get them to disperse. It obvs didn't work so the cops brought out the tear gas and the students bolted, but came back! This time with a vengeance! They started throwing eggs and rocks at the police line, so Helena and I went down to move the car from the street into our courtyard. The cops were standing right by our gate and told us to get back inside but we quickly moved the car and returned to safety unscathed. The whole stand off only lasted about an hour, but the kids were getting violent. In other parts of the city kids overturned cars and lit things on fire.
All this b/c the gov't wants to change the retirement age from 60 to 62. I mean...I must admit I do admire the willingness of kids to get involved and care even slightly about politics. High school kids in the US wouldn't even know about pension reform and def wouldn't care even if they did. But it's simply a French tradition to take to the streets; I doubt students are fully aware of the implications or remotely interested in becoming so.
Starting next week is the Halloween vacay, which lasts 2 weeks. The kids will be with Marc for one of these weeks so I've got that time off. Now. What should I do with that time?? I should go somewhere cause I won't have ANYTHING to do. Suggestions?
Now I'm off to buy a razor b/c I was trying to remember the last time I shaved and I sincerely cannot.