La vie est belle

So fixing up the internet at our apartment has been the most frustrating thing to set up ever. I dont kno why it really has to be this complicated in france, it's almost as if they enjoy it. i swear ive gone to that french telecom store 4 times and i'm still really confused. but yesterday it was nice because my favorite classof guys, who i eat lunch with in the cafeteria, walked with me at lunch time into the city so they could help me out with the fast speaking french emlpoyees at France Telecom. But we found out the store was closed until 2 pm which was the time the store re-opened after lunch. all of them had class at 2, but they stayed to help and skipped a class to help me which was really nice of them. i finally got my carte blue from my bank which is the credit card yesterday (which was the only thing holding me back from the internet), but after talking to the guy i discovered we have to re-open the phone line for 110 euros, then pay 40 euros a month for just internet and phone - which seems expensive, but then again internet in the apartment would be really helpful for creating lesson plans, keeping in touch with everyone, and buying plane/train tickets online. anyway it was confusing and the reason it takes so long is because the store is reallllly crowde and we dont understand everything at the stores! As of now, a technician is coming this week, but because its France, it will take a month before it actually works in the apartment!!!! Somethings about France really frustrate me like the customer service and the bureaucracy of opening any account (i had to sign and initial 20 pages before i could have a bank account).

But France is great in a lot of other ways too. I have been really enjoying our weekend adventures. Cecil and i have been finding cheap train rides and bus rides to nice normandy cities on the weekends. Last weekend we took a bus to Honfleur, which is this cute little fishing village on the coast. We hiked to the top of the biggest hill, and ate chesse, avocado, and ham baguette sandwhiches (i dont think i will ever get sick of french food), and admired the view. Then just this weekend we went to a much bigger city called Rouen, the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake! We saw the church dedicated to her, and we also visited the museum of Beaux Arts (fine arts) and got to see some Monet!!! I didnt think i was much of a museum/art guy, but i enjoyed the paintings a lot more than i thought i would. I wish i could have taken some of them home with me. Suffice it to say we have been loving the weekends. And guess what, at the end of this week, we have a 10 day vacation because its the vacances de Toussaints (all saints vacation). God I love the french school system.

Random story: My roomate Cecil says really funny things like the otehr day he was talking about the musical CATS and how ridiculous of idea it was. he was thinking...what do they do throughout the play? just lick temselves and meow a lot? well we found the dvd in FRENCH at the mediatheque (the library), and we spent a night watching the movie, drinking cidre (a local alcoholic specialty of normandy) and laughing at how ridiculous it was!!! we also love going to the supermarket and bakeries, so we make up lame excuses to go everyday or everyother day.

The night life in lisieux doesnt really exist. There is one club but I havent gone yet, and the students all tell me that its not that good in lisieux, and i should go to other cities for discotheques. it doesnt bother me too much, because cecil is not much of a partier and so i dont really feel the need, since we buy wine cidre and beer chez nous. Thats all for now.