(no subject)
A bit more before going to a meeting. I'm trying to get caught up, but I have a lot to write!
Samedi cont'd
After waking up from my *gulp* 3 hour nap, it's time to make my internet work!!!! Apparently to get WiFi (or ANY internet) in your room, you need to pay 19E99/month and to sign up for this service, you MUST have a cell phone. They text you your password. How ridiculous is that? I haven't got a cell! Not yet at least. So I borrowed Brierley's and got a password and got the internet working!!!!! There was MUCH celebrating. Then it was time to cook dinner with the Brits and Americans. We made ratatouille, since Kate is a veggie. That's vegetarian for those of you who don't know. It was tasty, but quite an experience to make. For one, as I told you, there's a 2 burner little stove top-type thing. There are 2 knobs to control said burners. One of them is not labeled in any way, the other only has numbers on it. So the first problem is, which knob goes to which burner. This was a pressing issue because our garlic was burning. We figure out that the knob on the top goes to the burner on the left and the one on bottom goes to the right burner. Ok, got that figured out. Next is the issue of, we're turning the knobs and trying to let the burners heat up, but they won't. Apparently there's a switch on the wall that you need to press. However, to get the burners to work, you need to HOLD the switch. Now, it's not like a light switch that you turn on and off, oh no. You push it and it goes down, but then springs right back up. So, we taped it down. Yay duct tape. Solves all your problems. Ok, moving on. Then there's the issue of on the bottom knob, what temperature is it at? Our garlic is STILL burning. And yes, we take it off the heat, but when we'd put it back on, it'd start burning again. So we play with that some and finally get it. We think. We hope. While dinner is cooking, the 5th ISEP girl, Laura comes to find us and introduce herself. She's actually Italian, born and raised until she was 19, I think, and then went to college in West Virginia, since that's where one of her parents is from. The other is Italian. With her were two Italian boys, who I have come to discover are very nice. She invited us to go out to "La Rue de Soif" (the Thirsty Street) with them later that night, and Kate and I agreed. So at 10pm we met up in the center, at the Sainte Anne metro stop and went to this bar/restaurant-type place and ordered drinks. I got a mojito. It was ... ok. The mint was a little overpowering, so I couldn't really taste the lime and it was a bit bitter. Laura was telling me that in Italy, they're sweeter and therefore, better. With us three, there were the 2 Italian boys, 5 Italian girls, and 3 Greek girls. Quite the melange des langues. But it was a very good time. As the drinks were getting empty, Guiseppe (spelling?) decided he wanted to go to Saint Malo Sunday and did everything in his power to convince us. And it worked. He kept telling us that the BBC weather forecast said that it would be BEAUTIFUL Sunday, and then rain from Monday on. Forever. He's a bit ridiculous, but in a good way. So later today (maybe), you'll hear about my adventures in Saint Malo.
Samedi cont'd
After waking up from my *gulp* 3 hour nap, it's time to make my internet work!!!! Apparently to get WiFi (or ANY internet) in your room, you need to pay 19E99/month and to sign up for this service, you MUST have a cell phone. They text you your password. How ridiculous is that? I haven't got a cell! Not yet at least. So I borrowed Brierley's and got a password and got the internet working!!!!! There was MUCH celebrating. Then it was time to cook dinner with the Brits and Americans. We made ratatouille, since Kate is a veggie. That's vegetarian for those of you who don't know. It was tasty, but quite an experience to make. For one, as I told you, there's a 2 burner little stove top-type thing. There are 2 knobs to control said burners. One of them is not labeled in any way, the other only has numbers on it. So the first problem is, which knob goes to which burner. This was a pressing issue because our garlic was burning. We figure out that the knob on the top goes to the burner on the left and the one on bottom goes to the right burner. Ok, got that figured out. Next is the issue of, we're turning the knobs and trying to let the burners heat up, but they won't. Apparently there's a switch on the wall that you need to press. However, to get the burners to work, you need to HOLD the switch. Now, it's not like a light switch that you turn on and off, oh no. You push it and it goes down, but then springs right back up. So, we taped it down. Yay duct tape. Solves all your problems. Ok, moving on. Then there's the issue of on the bottom knob, what temperature is it at? Our garlic is STILL burning. And yes, we take it off the heat, but when we'd put it back on, it'd start burning again. So we play with that some and finally get it. We think. We hope. While dinner is cooking, the 5th ISEP girl, Laura comes to find us and introduce herself. She's actually Italian, born and raised until she was 19, I think, and then went to college in West Virginia, since that's where one of her parents is from. The other is Italian. With her were two Italian boys, who I have come to discover are very nice. She invited us to go out to "La Rue de Soif" (the Thirsty Street) with them later that night, and Kate and I agreed. So at 10pm we met up in the center, at the Sainte Anne metro stop and went to this bar/restaurant-type place and ordered drinks. I got a mojito. It was ... ok. The mint was a little overpowering, so I couldn't really taste the lime and it was a bit bitter. Laura was telling me that in Italy, they're sweeter and therefore, better. With us three, there were the 2 Italian boys, 5 Italian girls, and 3 Greek girls. Quite the melange des langues. But it was a very good time. As the drinks were getting empty, Guiseppe (spelling?) decided he wanted to go to Saint Malo Sunday and did everything in his power to convince us. And it worked. He kept telling us that the BBC weather forecast said that it would be BEAUTIFUL Sunday, and then rain from Monday on. Forever. He's a bit ridiculous, but in a good way. So later today (maybe), you'll hear about my adventures in Saint Malo.