Week 2

8/10

Things have gotten crazy here in France. Yesterday we went to St. Guilhem et Desert and the river. It was one of the neatest little towns I've ever been to. There are old Roman ruins around the town. We saw the oldest bridge in France; the Romans built it. They were fantastic engineers. The bridge is still passable on foot. It was of no great beauty, but to know it was built so long ago by one of the greatest empires known to man was amazing. I told Asia I would buy her something pretty there, but we didn't have any time to shop. A lot of people went canoeing in the river. I didn't because I didn't "prendre maillot de bain" like the paper said. The river is at the bottom of a gorge in a valley. It is very lovely. The color of the water is pretty. It wasn't nearly as nasty as the river water I've seen. In the US.  When we got back to Montpellier, Casondra, Matt, and I went to McDonald's. After that, they wanted to go get ice cream from Louise. Louise is right across from the tram stop, so I was waiting for them on the tram platform. A man came up to me and asked if I wanted to go on a walk with him. I told him no. When I tried to walk away he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. I finally got loose. After we got back, I straightened up my room, took a shower, was bored for a while, and then went to bed.

Today, I ate lunch with Daniely at Paul, a chain of French patisseries. They make a pretty good sandwich. The best part is, they don't even put mayo on it. They make it just how I like it. They do put butter on it, which is actually pretty good. I have quit eating breakfast in the cafeteria simply because it isn't really breakfast. Breakfast is at least a bowl of cereal with milk. I need to show these French what a real breakfast looks like: eggs, bacon, biscuits (the American kind), and a glass of chocolate milk or at least cold regular milk. Anyway, class got out today at 3:30. I went straight to McD for wifi. Right before I was going to try yo Skype with Shannon, a guy sits next to me hugs me and kisses me on the cheek. I kept saying, "Non!" until he went away. I finally got to see my little Asia on video chat. FINALLY! Then as I was leaving and rushing to the tram with my  wallet in my hand, another person tried to steal it.  I see that guy quite a bit too. He is really young, Hispanic looking, is always waving a petition in people's faces, short, and wears a backpack. I was invited to dinner by two different people, but refused both. I stayed here, showered, sand loudly out my window, and am now writing this. I guess I will plug up my stuff and go to bed now.



8/11

I awoke today to incessant knocking on my door. Upon answering, I discovered Shelby, Kelsey, and Rachel dressed and ready to go. I was worried I was about to be late for class. It turns out I slept right through class. It was already 1:00 in the afternoon. Seriously. I dressed quickly and went to get some food with them. Three of us got steak- frites. Navigation became annoyingly complicated today. The tram line is down from the Saint Eloi stop to Corum. We have to take the tram from our stop to one stop down (Saint Eloi), then get on a bus, take the bus to Corum. There, we either have to wait for a tram to take us one stop to the Comedie, or walk from Corum. Walking from Corum wouldn't be that bad if it weren't for what seems like the 1,000 steps we have to climb. The bus ride is awful. They are jammed full and today I had a persons hair in my armpit and another person's foot in my butt. It was  like being tickled and

sodomized at the same time. We went to the mall where I got a few cute things for myself and
for Asia. Then we went to the faithful McD for wifi. We stayed there for a long time, too. We
went to the Monoprix and got some stuff before returning to our room.


8/12

Nothing much to report today. After class was over we went back to the room. It was so hot today. We waited until evening to go to town for wifi. Rachel and I went. We stayed for a while. Then we walked back through les estivales after dark to Corum to catch a bus. When we got to Saint Eloi, we walked back to our stop instead of waiting for the tram. It really isn't that far. We got back between 11:15 and 11:30. We sang on the bus and on our way back to our room. On the bus there was a drunk couple rubbing up against each other. If they'd have went any further, they'd have had to charge people to watch. The man had his butt on my leg and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was thinking, I'm not Santa get off my lap. Besides, she seems to be the one that has was you want. The tram worker that we saw between Saint Eloi and our stop seemed not to think anything of our singing. I am sure he is probably use to it. That is where all the drunk college students pass through. It was sure fun, anyway. I am sure if there were any attackers lurking in the shadows, we ran them far off.


8/13

Today we left at 9:00 for Nimes. Well, we left about 9:20 for Nimes because we had to wait on a group of German girls. They were the loudest, most obnoxious group of people I have encountered in France. They are even worse than Americans.   When our guide, Nicolas, was talking to us, they were talking too. I don't know what about because I don't know German. I do know that it was apparently hilarious. After we got to Nimes and saw a few things, we had a bathroom break. It took forever because there was no light in the bathroom, literally. We had to pee in the dark. We got to the Parthenon looking building in Nimes and there we watched a twenty minute 3D movie about the Heroes of Nimes. We walked from there to the colosseum. It was very neat. My only complaint about it would be they have covered the original seats with ugly bleachers and it takes away from the experience of being somewhere ancient. After our visit there, we had free time to eat and shop. No eating was done by me, of course. But I did spend way too much money buying souvenirs. We met back at the colosseum entrance at 2:00. Then we walked back to the bus and went to Pont du Gard. Pont du Gard is one of those places you really, really need to see in person. All the pictures that I looked at of Pont du Gard really don't do it justice. It is a lot bigger than you think it is and a lot more magnificent. The river there was quite a sight too, but those aqueducts were just... WOW. We had free time at the river. We met Nicolas at our designated spot. He poured us some wine, gave us a cookie, and counted to see if we were all there. Everyone except who else but the Germans. They finally showed up, we could hear them coming from a long way off. When we got back to Montpellier, Rachel and I got some things from the Monoprix and went back to our rooms. When we got back, Kelsey and Shelby, who didn't go on the excursion had been at the police station. Shelby's phone was stolen at McDonald's by a Hispanic looking guy, waving papers in people's faces, wearing a backpacks, who was short. Sound familiar? Well, I see this guy at least every other time I go to McDonald's.  I have planned on attacking this guy nest time I see him. I will open his backpack and see if Shelby's phone is in there. They said the police didn't even get his profile or anything. The police said he couldn't call America if he found her phone. So unless we retrieve it personally, it is gone for good. I stayed in my room for the rest of the night. I saw Shelby and Kelsey and Daniely and Casondra get ready for a night out. I cleaned up my room, ate some cookies, drank a Coca, showered, and finally I am going to bed exhausted.