Hopla, it was a long week. I started classes, attended carnival, and I’m getting ready for a weekend in the alps! My classes are great. I have four classes with the other Americans in my program (grammar, phonetics, internship class, and literature fantastique) and two linked classes in the actual Paul Valery program. The Paul Valery classes are interesting, I cannot believe French students. On Tuesday morning Andrew and I (the other American in my P-V course) showed up to the classroom on time. We sat down in the third row (Andrew didn’t want to sit in front) and waited for about ten minutes, wondering if the classroom was switched or the class was cancelled. About ten minutes after the class was supposed to start the French students showed up (and filled the back of the class, so Andrew and I were alone in the front row) and then the professor showed up. Throughout the lecture the students chatted. I can’t imagine what an American professor would do if students chatted like that through the class.

Tuesday night I came home from my internship at the American Library and carnival had started. They started up by the arc de triomphe and there were a couple different drumming groups with dancers, the crowd followed the drums around town. Later, it was like Halloween—everyone had very bizarre costumes (though I did see a couple of Harry Potters) and they followed this train made out of junkyard scraps and the drummers. It was cool, a fun experience.