Il pleut, mais j'ai acheté un impermeable!

  La Rochelle, France
Thursday, October 9, 2008

Yesterday I went to
speak with Mr. D. about on of my courses, just to find out what is actually
going on.  I wasn't actually that brave
voluntarily - I emailed him first (as my written French is much better than my spoken)
and he replied by saying "come and see me on Tuesday".  Bother. 
So, in I went.  My word, now
wasn't that wild!  How embarrassing! Note
to self:  I should really learn some
French.

We managed to
communicate enough, but he did have to resort to speaking like this:

 

"Aller.... Voir...
Monseuir....L__... et...lui...demande...si...."

 

Ah, now I
understand.  Gosh.  Awkward.

 

Also yesterday:  paid my rent (ouch), did to grocery
shopping, got drenched walking home from the bus stop, had a hot shower and got
into warm clothes, walked to uni for 5-7pm class, got drenched, find out upon
arrival that class has been moved to 5:30-7:30, sat through class with puddles
in my boots, walked home with squelchy feet, had another hot shower.  My boots, both pairs, are now soaked
through.  Would like to get me some more
of them, somewhat waterproof please. 
And a raincoat...

 

And, today...

 

Yes, I know I still
haven't told you about that weekend I promised to share, but I have to be in
the right mood to recount that far back. 
Allow me instead to share with you today's doings.

 

It was my day off
today, my lovely free Wednesdays. In the morning I actually did my washing!
(the washing machine has been broken). 
Lovely!  Now I have all my darks
clean, but they're still damp =(

 

I also settled myself
into the common room and knuckled down to some hard-core homework.  Well, not really hard-core.  I read a chapter of Armance, by
Stendhal.  In French and in English.  Lucky me having found a translation on the
net. But don't worry, I'm not just reading it in English - I am reading it in
French, then in English to make sure I understood it, and then in French again,
this time knowing what I am meant to be reading.  It's good.  Time
consuming.  But good.

 

At 1pm, I walked in to
the uni with Bonnie (she had a class) and I met Bek in the biblioteque
(library).  At 2 pm she and I walked in
to Centre Ville, where we did a little shopping.  At the first shop we stopped at, Bek bought 2 pairs of shoes (not
frivolously - she set out to buy them after having one pair break on the
weekend), and I bought a headband for a whopping 1€95 (reduced from 3€90)!  I love it - it brings me joy because it is
soooooo beautiful.  *glee*

Pretty headband

 


We then went to Etam
(a cloths shop) where Bek and I both bought lovely impermeables.  Mine is a delicious chocolate brown, and
Bek's is the same, but stone grey. 
Okay, so they're not Gucci, but they are great!  It zips up the front, and then there are
buttons up the front as well so you can button the coat up over the zip. And it
does up right up to the chin.  And there
are chords, one around the hood to secure it, and one around the waist to add a
little shape.  There are also pockets,
which will be great, and inside is a padded vest, which can come out!  It is secured in with press-stud
buttons!  Wow!! Optional extra
warmth!  And how much did this fabulous
vêtment cost me?  Well, the price tag
read 44€98.  So, what, $80-$85?  But today is the first day of what I gather
to be 10-day sales.  So... my receipt
reads a mere 17€98.  That's about $30, I
would guess.  (Well, before the dollar
fell from 0.59€ to 0.48€ or whatever. 
How sad is that?) 

Mmm, raincoat

 


But, yes, my
jacket.  I'm pretty stoked.  What a savings.  And Amy got hers from 35€, so I had come out today prepared to
spend that on a rain jacket.  Way to
find one worth more for half the price! 


 

After lunch (I bought
salmon pasta - mmmmm ^_^), Bek and I went back to the uni.  She went to class, so I read another chapter
of Armance (this time only in French) while I waited for Josée.  I also treated myself to a 40cent hot
chocolate from the machine.  Mmmm, good
machine.   Josée arrived and off we
went... to choir. 

 

Well, it wasn't
exactly choir this week; it was a meeting with all the members of the
protestant church choir to decide whether choir would continue or stop.  So, it was basically a lot of French people
arguing.  HIL-ARIOUS!  They all looked quite worked up, so I tried
very hard not to look too amused.  But
it wasn't nasty.  Just French.  And the minister was sitting beside me and
would ask me if I was understanding every now and then.  I think I understood a fair bit, actually,
which was great, as I have been having nightmares that I go home from France
and, oops, I didn't actually learn any French at all.  So, it was quite relief to feel like I was actually doing something
that could help my French.  The guy
sitting across from me, who was, what?, 60 odd?, was making origami out of a
sheet of music.  He folded it, ripped
off the end so it was square, and then proceeded to fold the paper into the
shape of a diamond.  He then tapped the
woman on his right, held the diamond up to his mouth and blew in the end of it,
and - whoosh! - it inflated like a balloon, two pointy bits sticking up on each
side like rabbit ears.  They laughed
together silently, all the while, the rest of the table continued flinging
French opinions at each other.

 

Gosh, French people
amuse me.

 

Josée got a bit fed up
with the whole thing, but for me, I am glad I went. I think that my French
benefited in some small way, and they people seem really, really lovely.  But apparently, next week, and the student
dinner (there's a student dinner) I am to bring a kilo des tomates.  And Josée is to bring the jambon (ham).

 

Oh, and in other news,
almost all of my clothes are "do not tumble dry".  Not good when you have to put 3€50 into the machine to get a
token for the washer and one for the dryer. 
I have a collection of coins for the dryer.  I wish I could just get 2 for the washing machine, or just buy
the one.  And what makes it even
slightly less simple, there is no clothesline. 
So, drying clothes = fun times. Ahh, but I am just stoked that I will
actually be able to wear pants tomorrow (as opposed to my skirt, again). 

 

Keep well, ok?

The tree is looking at me - it's a tree with eyes

Love and miss you all!

 

Gem

Xox

 

p.s. ONLY 2 WEEKS
UNTIL MID-SEMESTER HOLIDAYS!  ARGH!
WHERE IS ALL THE TIME GOING? And why can't I speak French yet?  And, I still haven't had one of my classes
because it has been cancelled 5 weeks in a row.  Wow, France, now that is some good education system.