Plenty of News

Hey all. So I haven’t updated this in a bit. I don’t remember what all I’ve missed, so I suppose I’ll just start writing and see where it takes me.

So after meeting Guillaume’s parents and 2 little brothers, I’m a little apprehensive to go back. They were perfectly nice, but I felt so uncomfortable the entire time. It was just very formal and very uncomfortable for me. Also, his 2 little brothers stared at me the entire time like I was going to burst into flames or something. The one that is 12, who they all admit is weird anyways, stared at me during the whole 2 hour lunch. At one point, I dropped a fry in my lap that landed on my napkin, and I waited a full 5 minutes for him to look away so I could pop it back onto my plate.

So anyways, this weekend is Guillaume’s nephew’s baptism. The whole family will be there except the one sister I’ve already met. So it will be me staying at his oldest sister’s house, along with his other sisters and all 4 babies. Yay for me! Lets just hope they are happy quiet babies. Then, he'll be like 10 minutes down the road at his brothers. I'm not a huge fan of the living arrangements, but its just for saturday night. I hope it all goes well.

Speaking of Guillaume though, I'm SO EXCITED to travel with him. We're going to go to London, then come back to France and explore Brittany. Its going to be great. I'm going to book everything today and tomorrow. I'm just trying to figure out what we're going to do for a few days in London. It will be a good week though.

He has to work the first few days of break though, helping out his boss, so I'm actually traveling with the other American girls for the first weekend. Then, on monday, I'll come back to Le Mans and meet up with Guillaume. So, for those days I'm GOING TO GREECE! ahh I'm so excited. I have always wanted to go to Greece. We leave early friday morning, and then leave Greece on monday morning, so we get almost 3 full days of exploring in. We are going to Athens, but we'll probably take a day trip out to see more stuff. The hostel we are staying in actually offers some pretty cool options for day trips to see ruins and things. We're doing more planning as a group tomorrow, but all planes, trains, and lodging are booked for that trip. YAY!

I'm just so happy I can travel though. I was pretty worried about it for awhile. I HATE the Prefecture. With the fiery passion of a thousand suns, I hate it. So, he told me to email him if I was going to want to travel in February or March. So I'd emailed him twice in the last 2 weeks, seeing as break is the week after next, and I'd gotten no response. So after a wild goose chase at the Prefecture yesterday, I was finally able to talk to someone that told me that I'm ok to travel with the papers I've got as long as I stay in the European Union.

So I went to the Prefecture yesterday, planning to creep outside the office until someone walked by. Lucy came with me too, so I didn't feel so awkward creeping, because at least I had company. So we are standing outside the office trying to peer through the little gaps in the blinds to see if anyone is in there. But it was empty. Awesome. However, there was a computer with a purse sitting on it and a word doc open on the screen, so someone must be around today. Well so we asked a guy walking by if it was open. He said Eh I don't know, go try the front office when you come into the building. Well we just continued to creep for a few more minutes, and a woman came out of the office next door. Asked her, and she said I don't know, ask this secretary. Then, we went in and asked the secretary, who pretty much said not my problem go to door 12. Well we go to door 12 and its the DMV plus the newly added Pre-Office for Foreign Services. And its obvious that that bit is new, as all the signs have like a sticker added at the bottom listing it as doing Pre-Foreign Service stuff. Well, I take my ticket and sit down. The number 446 is already on the board. We sit there for about 15 minutes, and a new number is never called. I'm 457. We were going to be there awhile. And all the people in the waiting room were black people from North Africa, trying to get into France permanently. I should not be in a category with them! I'm American. AND a student. America is a first world country, so its not like there are a lot of issues with Americans trying to immigrate to France. I just want to finish my semester. Is that SOOO much to ask?? Well then we go back to the Foreign Services office and creep through the blinds again. And there are people in there. And the office has blinds over the windows and doors are blacked out, its a very unfriendly place, and knocking is certainly not welcomed, but I leave in a week for Greece. I need to get this sorted. Well I knocked and this woman came out. She clearly didn't want to talk to us and was not happy we knocked, but I think she realized we weren't going anywhere, and it really was a quick question. So she answered it. And now I'm going to Greece YAY! I hope I never have to go to the stupid Prefecture again. AHHHHHHHH!

And today I'm doing laundry. Then its gym time!

Ha and funny story about the gym. Lucy and I got asked if we were twins the other day. Go creep on facebook. She's blonde and white and the same height as me, but otherwise there is not much else to say we're twins. But apparently everyone at the gym thought we were.

Tonight is this Carnival party. Its like you dress up and its a sort of Masquerade Ball thing too. I'm not really sure. It seems strange to me. But we'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading! Its kinda long today..

Because 9:30 on a wednesday night is a perfectly normal time to strike.

Tonight Lucy and I were craving fajitas and went into town to the Mexican restaurant we always go to (Cabana Tacos!). We left after our class which doesn't let out until 8, so it was 8:30 by the time we were in the restaurant and seated and everything.

We then went on to eat SO MUCH FIJITASSSS!

We finished and payed and all that good stuff, and left the restaurant, which is just next to the Republic tram stop. Well the sign that usually displays the next 3 train times, had a notice that due to a strike, this stop was not currently not running. Oh awesome. So we walked to the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and eventually all the way home. Which is not close, by the way. Its a distance that you usually pay for a 12 euro taxi long before you choose to walk it. I've only walked it once before, and it was horrible. It took us an hour, and it just seemed like forever. I'd heard too, that others have made it in just 45 minutes, but still, thats pretty far.

Well tonight, we really just intended to go 2 stops to Lafeyette, where it is almost always running to and from when its on strike. And there was a notice on one of the boards saying that is where service picked up again. So we made our way to Lafeyette, and there were times posted, but it was still flashing the notice that this stop was not in service. And the soonest one was meant to be another 15 minutes. So we thought, well if we have to wait this long out here, we may as well just walk to the next stop. But as we got to each stop, it was still always like 15 minutes. They really weren't changing, so we ended up just walking all the way. I think that it didn't seem as bad though, because we never set out to go the whole way, just to the next stop.

To go from the Town Center to campus is 8 tram stops. We walked 5, and then we took the shortcut. It was still an experience. And Lucy and I felt bad that 2 other girls decided to go for fajitas with us, and ended up having to walk home. Bummer.

But hey, we worked off those fajitas I guess.

Vacation Time!

Well.. it was a pretty boring weekend. Nothing too exciting happened. Still going strong on this gym thing though. I'm a huge fan. I feel so like I need to get in shape, especially after all the baguettes and french pasties. Also, with summer coming up, its an even bigger motivator. So yay for that!

Ok, so we have a break that begins in 2 weeks. For me, its actually 2 weeks from today and I'll be in break. YAY! But then, there is the whole what am i gonna do for a week and half on holiday. Well the original plan was to spend the whole week with Guillaume, just traveling around. The trouble is, his boss just sold him his old car, when he got a new one. And he knocked 1,000 off the price in exchange for Guillaume's help with some work on his house. So Guillaume can't leave Le Mans for the beginning of break, as he'll be working with his boss saturday, sunday, and monday.

Provided I can get my visa situation worked out so I don't get denied re-entry into France, here is my plan for the break:

Thursday-Monday in Greece with other American girls
Tuesday-Thursday/Friday in London with Guillaume :)
The rest of the last weekend in Brittany, France, going to some cute places Guillaume knows.

I hope it all works out because I'm pretty excited about it.

I have joined a gym.

And its kicking my butt.

But I feel like I'm getting flabby. I mean I think that my shape hasn't changed too much, but it's sortof like parts of my body that didn't jiggle before, jiggle now. Which is a real bummer.

So, Lucy and I joined a gym. It was a little pricy, but they have lots of workout classes, so thats what we'll do. Yesterday we did BodyAttack. Today was Garden Bike, which was essentially just cycling. Its good though. I'm super sore, but I feel like I'm getting a good work-out and I'm finally getting back in shape, just in time for summer. Yay!

Also,

Just FYI, but I got my other papers to the Prefecture, and I should have my something in the mail in 3 weeks to a month. So YAY! I won't be a partial illegal anymore!

I'm truly French..

..these days. They love their pencil pouches. They take them to every class, complete with every note-taking need. Before class, they always pull out their notebook and their pencil pouch. It always contains several colors of pens, a few pencils, and a white-out pen. And I actually had one class where he gave out a hand out and everyone pulled out gluesticks and glued the paper into their notes. No joke.

And now, i've fully integrated into the french culture. I have a pencil case, which is actually a really cute one, and it is complete with all different colors of pens, a couple pencils, AND a white out pen. At home, I'm a nerd, but here I'm normal. :)

Snail Mail

My day is always a little brighter if there is mail in my mailbox. I don't know why, but if there is a letter or something I get so excited. Someone loves me! Anyways, I got a letter from my friend Sarah the other day and it made my day. So if you are bored one day... you should write me a letter! I would love that!

My Address:

Audrey Hitchman
Cite Varouze - Bat E 213
16 Boulevard Charles Nicolle
Le Mans, 72000
FRANCE

:D