Wednesday Night?

So, update since I wrote that blog in the hostel...

Had the meeting today... it went well. Emma's host mom for right now came with us to make sure we weren't getting ripped off. We are signing papers tomorrow and my ever-generous father is helping me with the RIDICULOUS down payment (can you say insurance + agency fee + 3 months rent = ridiculous). So...... it looks like all is going well.

Tomorrow I'm off to sign papers in the morning (luckily, Marie, Emma's lovely host mother is coming with us) then to a school for a bit of an orientation with Catherine Dupin and then I'm going to see my school, Ballan-Mire for the first time........which, apparently, I will probably take a bus halfway and then walk. We'll see, though. Then we're all heading to Marie's place for a birthday dinner for Chelsea, my other roommate. Friday we are headed to Orleans. Sometime in that area we need to move. I bought a room in the hostel through Thursday night...and prices go up Friday night, so we better be able to move in really really late Thursday or Friday morning before we leave. I just hope he gives us keys when we sign tomorrow so we can move in when we please (I doubt he would enjoy getting up super early or super late Thursday to give us keys, pay him, and let us move in).

Saturday we made an appointment to get bank accounts. Marie also helped us get insurance for the apartment....so that's awesome. Ridiculous. But awesome. She also tried to help us talk down the agency fee (to no avail). But it was soooo nice to have her with us to help with all this stuff.

It's about 10 PM here... tonight we had dinner at one of the assistant's foyer (which is a fancy room for professional dorms) They cost 400 euros a month (mind you, everything included), but you live in a dorm. So, that sucks. I'm so glad we found a place for around 300 euros (no more than 350 a month) that, eventually, will also include everything.

I saw the apartment today and it's perfect. There's really no place for us to all hang out at once, but I'm sure somebody's room will become the hang out. Inevitably, I got the worst room in the house, but I really don't care. I won't be living alone. I won't be renting a room in somebody else's house. We have a kitchen, with laundry, and bathrooms. Everything is going to work out fine.

My French still sucks, I'm really glad we had Marie there today. But I did hold my own in conversation tonight with a random french boy we met in the courtyard. P.S. I forgot how beautiful French guys are. Sigh. I'm super hoping my language skills improve, though. And I know they will...it's just going to take time. I will willingly admit that I spent the first part of the day in the hostel room because I was terrified to leave the hostel without somebody else there with me. It doesn't matter if when we go out I'm the one that's talking as long as I have that safety net of the other person to help. Hopefully, it'll all be grand when we live in an apartment together and I won't have to go out alone until I'm comfortable.

Right now everyone's gone upstairs to check out Diana's room in the foyer and I thought I'd give this blog an update. There are, also, pictures on facebook. I didn't brink my cord, so I can't get pictures of our apartment yet, but they will come as soon as I move in, promise. I can't wait until we have WIFI in the apt. and I can get on the internet as I please...right now it's super difficult with the trying to find free WIFI (I know of two places now) and working around our schedule. I was all ready to be on early this afternoon, but, alas... Marie was showing us around town, and I would never turn a tour from a native down.

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but we're living right next to the Hotel de Ville and the Gare. So if you have a chance to look up pictures of either...they are beautiful....as is everything else here.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm def. still in the honeymoon phase, and if I can get out of that crappy hostel soon I will probably rest here for awhile. It still feels like I'm leaving in a couple of days, though....so weird.... I don't know how exactly to explain this feeling, but the permanence of my stay here has yet to sink in.

I've done the biz twice, in case you were wondering. And the thing that still connects avignon to tours is the smell. France just smells different. I think it's the mix of car exhaust, dog poop, fresh bread, and the old buildings. It's hard to explain, it's not an unpleasant smell or anything...just...different. And it inspires a sort of desire to learn, fit in, and live life to the fullest for some reason.

Money's going to be really tight the first couple of months. I'm hoping to get that pay advance if I can get my bank account set up in time......but I fear that the november 1st deadline for rent might also be a problem..... I'm trying not to worry about it, though, until I see if I can set that up and, I don't know...I just figured out October, so I need a break.

Again, like last time, I'm waiting for that moment when everybody stops speaking French...like it's a game or something. It's just hard to get over the fact that everyone speaks French...all the time. They think in French. It's odd.

Well, I better go because I feel they may be coming out soon......so.....best wishes. I'll try to get on tomorrow and update, but I really can't promise anything. I'm not on a fixed schedule yet, so it's a bit hard to figure out when I can get online. In fact, some random French guy just walked over and asked if I was going to stay here for a long time... thank God I have some French skills.... I can't imagine being here without at least fumbling my way through conversation. That's why I'm terrified to go to Italy or Spain...though I really want to... I just don't know the language and don't exactly know how that would work out. We'll see, though, we'll see.

P.S. Our landlord gave me his ex-loaner's phone...so I'm hopefully going to plug it in tonight and see that it still works and then just be able to buy minutes for it or something. It'd be nice to be able to call the police if I'm getting mugged or something.

P.S.S. Being the smart, professional woman I am...when the agency lady tried to get us to leave with just signing a paper, I demanded a receipt...to which she said she didn't have one. Of course, we paid in cash and I KNOW how easily that stuff gets lost...so I had her sign our paper saying that we paid her in cash today at that time. I'm not as naive as I look, I suppose.

P.S.S.S. It's quite possible that sparkling white wine is better than white wine.

Love Always,
Amanda