Food Pictures and the Weekend

Well, as you can see we've been gradually testing out the kitchen. Our first meal consisted of instant soup (which we ate right out of the pots) salad, some bread, and wine. After our trip to IKEA we at least had plates and bowls etc... Jesse is quite the cook and whipped up some curry chicken with green beans, bell peppers and onion. It was delicious! Then Courtney and I did some pasta with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and a little white wine. It was not bad. The lettuce and veggies here are excellent so we've been taking advantage of those, though I think tonight we'll venture back to the cafeteria for dinner together.

The weekend definitely had it's ups and downs. Jessee went to Anges to visit ppl from when she studied there. She left Sat. Then Courney went with Zoe to do this sports day b/c they needed one more person at the last minute. I was feeling a little sad and lonely, but it was the nicest day since I've been here so I took a walk. I'm still feeling lousy, so I spent the afternoon in bed reading. Thank god for the book my Mom lent me just before leaving; I don't know what I'll do when I'm done with it. Some of the girls and I have talked about doing a book swap since we all have a limited selection. I was so ready for company by the time Courtney and Zoe got back. That is the night we did our pasta. Then we headed out to meet up with some other assistants at UNIQUE which used to be a cookie factory and now has been turned into a huge club/bar. It was interesting. There were about 10 German assistants (all speaking only German) and 2 other American girls. It was kind of odd so we didn't stay too long. Not a great night. Sat. night proved to be better: we met up with Suzana (from Ireland) and Garreth from Manchester to go to Buck Mulligins, an Irish pub. We had fun and then headed to a very swanky club called The Loft. Also interesting. It kind of felt like an underground club in Russia or like some vqmpire's lair.... I don't really know, but we still had a good time. I slept in yeterday which felt great since we didn't get back until 4 am. I had a magazine to read for my classes today so did that and flipped through the GRE vocab book I got before coming here. At about 3pm Courntey and I decided to venture out and find an internet cafe; we did that and then ran into Garreth and 2 more assistants from Northern Ireland. We walked around and hung out with them until 10pm. It was fun to really see the city and just hang out. On our way back we ran into Jesse just getting back from Angers. I missed her; she reminds me of Liesl, and we've hit it off right away.

Our first vacation is coming up and I really want to take advantage of it and go somewhere. I kind of feel like doing something on my own since I haven't really done anything like it before and I think it would be a different experience from sticking with a group. I've never really planned out any trip and think the challenge would be fun and rewarding. I would ideally like to visit the cinque terre on the coast of Italy. Everyone I know who's been there says it's one of the most beautiful spots. I've looked up some flight prices and you can get flights from Paris to Milan for about 50€ round trip! It would be tricky and I would have to see about the costs etc... But I think the weather would be nice and there is a lot of hiking and nature to see- ideal for a solo trip. It also turns out that my friend Teseo who lives in Milan has a place about 10 km away, so it might be possible to meet up. I don't really know, but I'm afraid of not taking full advantage of the easy access to other countries.

After the vacation, I plan to scout out some sort of supplemental income (tutoring or babysitting). I guess that's it for nosw. I have 2 more hours of class today that I need to prep for and figure out which room we can use. So far, that has been a little tricky b/c not only do I have to ask for a room (as I just found out this morning) but then I have to track down the students to tell them where it is we're meeting. Hopefully something will work itself out and we'll get the room situation squared away.

-Elizabeth