I'm behind

I'm already behind on blogging. I don't really know what I'm doing with my time, but I don't really feel bored, so that's good. I spend about 15 hours a week in class and the rest of the time hanging out. I've kind of been on vacation since July, which is suprisingly nice. I used to think I couldn't live without working, but as it turns out, about 20 hours a week of activity is good enough for me.

So, updates...as I think I already said, I'm going the Master's program. I'm going home for my mom's wedding and Christmas. I'm even going to spend a week in Austin. Pretty exciting stuff. I had it in my head that I wouldn't go home in December, but I'm really happy about it. Wedding on a cruise ship AND a week at home...pretty hard to beat.

I had a couple days where I wasn't as happy, but mostly, I'm loving life. For example, here's how last weekend went:

Friday night, I thought I was supposed to meet my classmates dowtown, but I missed the "tomorrow" in the guy's text message. Just as I read that, another guy that helped to welcome the new students walked by and invited me to go out with his friends. So, I went with them to a couple bars and to one of their apartments and was out until 3. I don't know if I made any life-long friends, but it was way better than staying home.

Saturday, I went to the open-air market with my friend, Michelle. We stopped to have a drink with some of her friends. They all drank wine (at noon; I had tea), and we shared some salami-like sausage (I love France!!). After that, we went to a huge flea market type thing. It stretches for miles around town. I got a cheap pan and a holder for my silverware. Good buys. I got stuck in the rain on my way back from the grocery store, but if I hadn't had my groceries with me, I think I almost would have enjoyed it. I also found a live slug in the lettuce I'd bought at the market. That kind of made me happy. I wanted to keep him as a pet but decided that was a bad idea and let him go outside. I stayed in Saturday night and just watched movies with my Iranian friend in the dorm.

Sunday, I got up, ate breakfast, did homework, showered, ate lunch, met a couple friends downtown for tea, went for a jog, talked to my mom, talked to my brother, ate a friggin' awesome omelette, and went to bed. What a lovely weekend!

Additionally, I signed up for a Salsa class. The teacher is quite the character, but he seems nice enough. It's a good way to meet people and have something to do. I got information about volunteer opportunities, but I haven't really followed up with that yet. There are tons of international people here and lots of things to do. Really, things are going about as well as I could ask for. I'm happy to be back here as an "adult." I'm enjoying exploring the city and not being afraid to do things on my own. I'm enjoying the simplicity of life without a car and without a job. I'm finding all the good things about France that I'd kind of forgotten about over the last few years. Life is good.

Speaking of, I love the food here. Some things I could have easily eaten at home but didn't. I have recently discovered that I LOVE olive oil, especially when it's mixed with canned tuna. Holy crap! It is soooo good. I found a dark chocolate mousse at the grocery store that is friggin' fantastic and only has 90 calories! Then, of course, there's chèvre (goat cheese), but I already knew that. I've actually had suprisingly few pastries. I'm about due for a pain au chocolat. Yummm!

Okay, that's plenty long already. I hope those that are reading this are doing well. Send an update about your life when you can.