seatless toilets and other frustrations

The last few days have been tiring and a bit stressful. Not that I'm not still having a blast, but, being in class 4-5.5 hours a day isn't the greatest the most fun thing in the world. Adapting to the change in schedule, and the 8:30 am start, has been difficult. yesterday mt alarm didn't go off, and I got up less than 10 minutes before I had to leave, I made it though, in perfect time to catch my bus! My classes are fine, just long, each of the CUEF classes are 2 hours, and my Monday/Wednesday class with Patrick is 1.5 hours.

The other stressful thing, was the sign-up for CUEF excursions. There was a misunderstanding as to which excusrions were covered in our program fee. anyway, we ended up having to pay for the 200 Euro for Cote d'Azur, but the rest of the excursions we chose were covered. So the plans for the next few weekends are more concrete now. This weekend we will visit Annecy on Saturday, with the U of M group. Then Sunday we will visit Chamonix, for a view of Mont Blanc. The following weekend, we will visit Cote d'Azur with the CUEF excursion. We will depart early Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening. We'll be staying in a hotel by the beach, and i believe we will visit Cannes, Monaco...and who knows what else. The best part is that Maryel's birthday will be that Saturday (the 16th) and mine and Olivia's will be Sunday (the 17th)! So we are hoping to have a fete and celebrate Saturday night, on the beach or elsewhere. I'm very excited; what better way to spend my birthday!? The next weekend, we are going to miss the Tour de France coming through, because we will be in Marseille, but I think that will be worth it, and I saw the end of the Tour the last time I was in France. Also, a week from today is the French national holiday, Bastille Day, so we will not have class, and will be able to participate in the celebration. I believe there will be fireworks that night! So there is a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks, so hopefully the fun weekends will get me through the boring weekdays spent in classrooms!

Lastly, I'd like to share a photo of the public restrooms here. Most don't have toilet seats, and some are just holes in the ground that can be flushed...it is awkward, but I figured anything this awkward should be shared! :)