YAY (no more stage)

Well, today was the last day of my stage classes. You cannot understand how happy that makes me. I was really quite bored in my classes, and now, a book, two essays, and an oral presentation later, I don't feel that much better prepared for school than I did when I arrived. Really, I think that my nightly conversations with Florence have done a lot more for me than the time I spent in class.

Oh well though, it's over! Moving on...

For the most part, this week has been pretty unexciting, but busy. I had to write those two essays and prepare an oral presentation, along with some other little homework things and I also met with Andrew, the graduate teaching assistand from Oregon who is here to help us out. He is helping us pick classes and work through the hell that is French bureaucracy. French university students start out in a very specific field of study and, unlike american students, do not explore other subjects. They are basically required to take certain classes every semester, so they don't go through the process of registering and working out schedules that we do. For this reason, the university doesn't release class descriptions or course schedules until a few days before classes start. This is hell for foreign students, who often take classes in different fields and have to work out schedules. It's frustrating. VERY frustrating. Luckily, we have Andrew to help us out. I have also been fortunate because I am taking classes through the Institut des Etudes Politiques (the Political Science Institut), and they released a course schedule relatively early. For the most part, I think I figured out what I want to do, but I have to email all the professors and make sure I can take the classes because they are mostly discussion-sized classes that may not have room (cross your fingers for me!!) There is also a capoeira class offered which is pretty much the most exciting thing in the world because I have been wanting to take capoeira FOREVER. Even better, I think it will be my only class on Fridays. YAY!!!!!! SO EXCITING!!!!!!

Lets see...oh! Today we toured Vieux Lyon with this guy who has a TV program and it seems like he knows everything there is to know and has access to pretty much everything in the city. We went into the Cathédral St. Jean and he pointed out things like this little devil carving and the fact that the carvings on the wall are from different eras because it took so long to build the cathedral. We also went "troubouling". In Vieux Lyon there are all these little passageways through the buildings because, for some reason when it was built there were only north-south roads and people needed ways to move east and west. So they built these passageways called traboules that people still use today. They are really cool and also provide a central space for people living in the buildings. Um...oh and we also got to see the headquarters of a local "cult" that supposedly practice devil worship and all sorts of dark things. Pretty cool.
Of course, being the brilliant person that I am, I forgot my camera. I think I've taken about 10 pictures since I got here. DUMB!!! I promise that there WILL be pictures soon.

Anyway, that's enough for now...I think I might take a nap before I go to the movies with Florence so that I don't fall asleep like last time :-P

bisous!