Now to catch up....

Ok, so its a blog not a blogg.... can't really blame me, I have never had one before :)

So, what has happened since Saturday night? Well, a ton.

All of Sunday we spent walking around Bordeaux, seeing shops and streets that we may need later on, and generally getting our barrings. I don't know how much of the streets I remember, but it does help to see options for where we may go if we need something. The first thing that struck me was how small the streets are! If I were in a city in America I would be avoiding streets this size. But here, a big street is the size of a small street, and a small street is the size of a sidewalk. Ok, so that may be rather drastic, but its pretty much how it seems. The other thing that is great is how old all of the buildings are! I love the history of a place, and everywhere you look there is a little sign explaining why the building is there and who built it. I love it. During my time here I must stop and read every one.... but it will take me a while so I am pacing myself :)
I also realized that I am rather tall. Most of the women here are my height or shorter. I have seen MAYBE 2 girls taller than I, but mostly they are really short. I wonder if that means I am going to have a hard time finding clothes that I may buy....
Suday night we went to another friends house for dinner. Johanna is another girl who came to Bryn Athyn last year who lives and works here. We all went to her apt. for dinner and drinks and had a great time. We were introduced to Duck paté and goat cheese on a baguette. I am not sure about the duck, but for my first time being willing to eat goat cheese.... it really was not bad. Not something I love, but not that bad.
We then decided that it was too late to go back to the dorm, so again we spend the night at Julie's place.

Today, Monday, we spend shopping for things we need and going back to the dorm for more clothing. That took a good portion of the day, and when we got back it was about 4pm. Then we met up with Gooey and Marie and hung out until we met up with some more of Julie's friends and had dinner. It was a very yummy three course French meal. As we are all students we are all rather short on money, so it was really fun to have a great meal for a very good price. I was only a little adventurous, and got a starter of roasted eggplant and then a "picé de beof" or piece of beef. It was very good, though I liked the eggplant better than the beef. The funny thing is that I never really thought about how the French eat so much pasta, but its like a side thing that comes with everything, like salad in the states. I thought that was funny, but hey, its really good, so I am not complaining.
The plan was to go to a movie afterwards, but we took too long (a little over 2 hours) to eat, so we missed the beginning of the movie, so they would not let us in. So now we are back at Julie's, hanging out until we go to bed. So far we have not spend a night in the dorm, and the way things are turning out, I am not sure we ever will.

Ok, so complaints about France:
First would be the dorm rooms. When we signed up for the program we were told about these rooms that were suite style that would have 5 students to one mini kitchen. When we got here, we realized that the real rooms that we were to have were single rooms that had mold on the walls. The bathrooms too are bad, for it is a long hall with 1 bathroom to share, and there are both girls and boys. True, you do have the privacy of a stall, but then again, to get that privacy you must lock yourself in.... sketchy anyone? So I was not happy to see the condition of the rooms that we were assigned, and I hope that it can be changed. Antoine (a professor here) and the girls are helping us find an apartment to live in so that we don't have to stay in the dorms, for that really would affect our time here. So we will see what happens, and I will keep you updated. Tomorrow we meet with a realastate agent, so that is going to be interesting.
I guess the only other annoying thing is how deceptively expensive everything is. I look at something at see that it only costs 2 ero, so I am like "that is so great!" and then I pull out a 2 ero coin and think that it is even better, for its just one coin! But in reality, it is a ton more, considering all I have in the bank is American money, and to withdraw money is expensive as well. But soon I hope to get the hang of it and I will always be careful with my money.

I will have lots of pictures up soon, but I don't have my computer here at Julie's, so until then I don't have pictures.

I do think that this is a long post, so I think I shall stop here. If you have any questions about details about any of the things that I am doing, don't hesitate to comment and I will answer as soon as I get back to the computer.

Until next time!