France: January 14, 2002

You won't believe what I did yesterday...I washed my socks and underwear by hand! I did that because I couldn't find a laundromat nearby and Eva told me that she does hers by hand. Last night, I went to Tara's...or at least tried to! I forgot which apartment she was in and tried her next door neighbor's apartment before I found her. We hung out and talked in her apartment for a while. Then, we went to a place called The Forum to have coffee and hot chocolate with some other students. We met three different guys. One of them said he's been to the Pittsburgh area before (in Red Lion...that got a big laugh from everyone because I didn't understand what he said at first until I realized what it was with an English accent). I had a hot chocolate (called only "chocolat") with a couple of cubes of sugar in it...I thought it was cool to have "cubes" of sugar. Later last night, Tara and I went to a Pizzeria called "Via Pizza" and split a "Quatre Saisons" (4 Seasons) pizza that had an artichoke heart, mushrooms, cheese (of course), green peppers (les poivrons) and fresh tomatoes on it. For dessert I finally got to try creme brulee. C'est magnifique! :-) It's cream underneath with a crust on top. Today, I got up a little late, about 11:30 a.m., got ready and went to the campus. I asked Madame Courtois when I could talk to someone about my courses. She thought Monsieur Sicard talked to me about them and I said no. She said she'll give me a list of classes next week. But, she also said it's really easy to join classes; all I have to do is go to them, really. I had to go back to my apartment to get my passport and some photos to get my student I.D. card for UPJV (carte etudiante). Now I have one, yay! :-) I got a very long e-mail from Mildred today. I still have to e-mail her back. Missy e-mailed me her resume so that I can critique it for her. Oh...last night Eva told me she found out there is a laundromat in the other direction from here on la rue de Paris going towards the university. Apparently, after speaking with Therese, I have to talk to the landlord (la proprietaire) myself about renting that one apartment with those French girls. But, she did tell me that they can have someone help me move out; honestly I can do it myself. It's just down the street for goodness sake! I chatted online with Mandy (from Nebraska) today, too. She told me I should take tons of pics. I still have to take some. I still  have not gotten to talk to anyone about going on that Paris trip with the Tulsa students. The more I think about it I think it might be a better idea to go with Dominique. I was supposed to meet with that Professor guy tonight at 5:00 and he never showed up! :-( Weird.