So last night (Friday night) I went out exploring for the first time at night. The city looks completely different at night, and oh so pretty. I went with my Canadian friend, and we found the carnival that is here until the end of September. It reminded me a lot of the county fair back home except that instead of funnel cakes, there were crêpes! Similar to the candied apples in the US, there were apples covered in chocolate called , "pommes d'amour" for 1 euro. It was actually really good. I would have gotten a crêpe, but they were about 5 euros, and until I get my stipend, that's too much.
The most interesting thing about the carnival was this ride that was similar to the "swings." The difference is that I would be TERRIFIED to ride on these swings. So, basically, there was a rope dangling above the swings, and as you went by, you were supposed to reach and try to catch it....for the reward of one of those carnival stuffed animal prizes. The thing is that these swings were so close together that the people would hold on to the person in front of them and propel them towards the rope whenever they would pass it. People were twisting around one another and bumping into each other like crazy! The image I was seeing in my head of what could go wrong was awful. Today, I was on a mission to find somewhere to skype. It's completely different just talking to someone through email than on skype. First, I went to this little restaurant in the mall where I thought I would be able to use wifi. Even though there is a huge sign on the wall that says, "ICI WI-FI: Gratuit," apparently you have to have some kind of special card. Anyway, I asked one of the workers at a little store in the mall, and they told me that I should go to McDonalds. (Which is in the middle of the city, and I was on the north side.) To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here's the tram map: My dorm is off of line 2 (the red line) at the stop called Bourgeonnière. The mall is at the end of line 2 at Orvault-Grand Val. The centreville is at the stop called Commerce. that's the stop where all the lines intersect, and where all the shops in the city are.
Anyway, I got on the tram to Commerce and found McDonalds. Even though it was about an hour after I had told them to be waiting for me, I got to skype with Mom, Dad, and Grandmother for a while, and then with Brook. It was really good to have finally found a way to do that. Even if I can only skype once a week or so, it's better than never.
After skyping for a while and getting strange looks from all the French people walking by because I was speaking English, we went to go to find the big electronics store called "Fnac" It's kind of like best buy, but with a completely different vibe. This store makes you feel cool just by being in it. Everything was really expensive, but it's not surprising, considering that everything is expensive here except baguettes....Seriously, I bought one for .30 cents the other day.
By 7:30 here, all the stores are closing. The smaller ones actually close even earlier. It still surprises me since it doesn't even start to get dark until 9pm. You would think that if they close this early that they must open up at 7 or 8 in the morning, right? Nope. The stores here actually start to open around 10am. Typical French.
So now I'm back in my itty bitty dorm room. I will take pictures of it as soon as it's suitably clean. Bonne nuit!
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