New Apartment

I finally got the heck out of the terrible dorm! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! It was a pretty last-minute change.... I found an apartment, visited it, liked it, said yes immediately, then found out that I had to get out of Fresche Blanc over the weekend in order to not have to pay February rent. So I made the most abrupt and unexpected move of my life! Here are some photos:

Bathroom (you probably think it's small, but I think it's massive!)

View from the balcony (this definitely beats the construction site!)

Kitchen! Note the balcony!!

My clothes stored in une penderie

My bed (side view)

 In any case, I'm glad to have Fresche Blanc out of my system! It was nice for the first semester, but I couldnt imagine staying in there for a full year! Now I have more space to do what I want, and I can stay in the kitchen all night long if I want! On  top of that, I can sleep in past 8am, which is a fantastic luxury if you have been waking up at 7 all semester due to terrible noise.

So now, instead of living with other foreign students who speak English really well (which is fine, but I don't ever get to practice my French), I live with a French girl named Manon who does not really speak English all that well (according to her). It's a good chance to actually live amongst the French (her friends come over a lot). Also, Manon likes to experiment with cooking, so that's pretty great for me! :P

Anyway, the girl I'm replacing left me all her groceries, her furniture, her decorations (as you see in the photos, now I have posters! yes!!!!), and a bottle of Montbazillac as a gift. I'm fairly pleased with this change. I have more space for me, so I'm ridiculously happy right now.

In any case, if I really miss Fresche Blanc all that much, I can just go up the hill and walk there. Which is what I did on Sunday night. I went to the kitchen to have dinner with the new arrivals. I figure that I was in the same position that they probably are right now: lost, confused, culture shock-y. So I took it upon myself to make them feel welcome here! We ate the typical food of students: pasta and bread and cheese. It was plain food, but good times with new people! Hopefully everyone learns to love it here as quickly as I did-- it makes things a bit easier.... :P

From left to right: Me (VCU), Robin (UVermont), Julia (Pitzer), and Kate (Loyla U)! Cooking dinner in the Fresche Blanc kitchen!

Me and Luz (CWU)

From left to right: Josh (Pitzer), Luz (CWU), Leah (UVermont), Courtney (Thompson Rivers), Sarah (Puerto Rico), Kate (New Orleans), and me