Lazy Sunday

Day 10

Apparently, sunshiny weekends are unheard of here, so I am making up that this weekend was just for me!

Today, I slept in & watched more Firefly before heading out around 2pm to meet Caroline, a girl from Mulhouse who was attending school in SC last year – we had met up for coffee in Columbia (I know I blogged about her, but since I’m not online as I write this, I am not going to link to that post...) – and she’s back here completing her Master’s in English this year.

Turns out, Caroline works at the Chapitres I mentioned in my last post, which makes sense, seeing as how she’s a lit girl, haha. Also turns out that she’s hoping to write her thesis on dystopic fictions... when she used the word “dystopia”, I giggled. Also turns out, she’s read Tom Moylan’s work & quoted him in her thesis introduction... small world say “what?!?” So I gave her a few names & have told her about next year’s Utopian Studies conference in Cyprus. Yay!

As we talked, we also wandered the city... in the sunshine... SO MUCH BETTER than midnight strolls down prostitute row*. I took photos of the Onion Festival, a few buildings and old cobblestone streets, and some “art” in centre ville before we decided to walk along the river, which was beautiful. I will not be taking that walk any alone any time soon... and prob never in the dark... but for our purposes, it was a nice stroll. We came across a group of teens/young adults who had designed graffiti and were spray-painting their designs onto a wall along out path, so naturally I convinced Caroline to ask permission for me to photograph them! We walked past my apartment building, so I took some photos of the outside of the building from across the river, as well as some photos of the river itself... and a giant waterslide at the city’s outdoor pool (that’s right by my house) before we ran into Sara and Emma jogging on the paths... this city is like a crazy small-town!

After a little more wandering and a stop at the McDs for some wifi, we headed back to centre ville for supper.

We went back to where the festival was being held, because we figured there may be places open on a Sunday there (& we were right)... so I had my 1^st Alsacian meal. Let me just say that the Alsacian’s eat EVERYTHING. Brains, frog legs, veal head... so I had vegetable soup & salad with a cheese sampler.

I attempted to order in French & bombed. I ordered out drinks, but instead of saying “we would like”, I said “you (plural) would like” & told the server what to eat... but he loved that I’d tried... I think. Plus, every time he walked by our table (and only our table), he would burst into song, which I found highly entertaining!

Now I am home, packed & ready for my first day of classes, with my outfit all laid out & it sounds like there’s a storm a’brewin’. I am about to continue Firefly... Nathan Fillion... ‘nuf said. Not a bad day at all. :)

*FYI: I learned that there is not so much a “prostitute row” as several “prostitute corners” scattered around the city... the above phrase is more for poetic emphasis.