Make Sure to Lick the Stamp-Day 21-January 29th, 2018

Safe to say my sleep on the bus was mediocre at best. I slept for about 5 hours, but woke up many times during that. The bus arrived in Grenoble a little after 5 AM. Knowing I had class in a few hours, I wanted to get home as fast as possible and go to sleep. I was tired, cold, and ready to lie in my bed, even if it was only for a little bit.

Getting home would be a little more difficult, as the trams and buses wouldn’t start for another 30 minutes. I could wait in the cold for the buses, or walk the 45 minutes home. I opted for walking because I’d rather be cold and moving than cold and standing still. I tried to make the most of it and plugged in my headphones to listen to some uplifting music. Some of my friends were still up in America, so their snapchats kept me entertained on the walk.

While walking through the dark and quiet streets of Grenoble, I realized how quickly this city was beginning to feel like home. This weekend was really the first time I left Grenoble, and the city that seemed so foreign two weeks ago suddenly felt so much more comfortable. I was also impressed with myself because despite the long walk, I didn’t really need directions to find my way back.

I quietly tip toed into my house and immediately lied in bed. I could unpack my stuff later. I had class at 9:45, so I could sleep for another two and a half hours. I did that but didn’t sleep super well. I did have a cool lucid dream though, which is when you realize you are dreaming during a dream.

A few hours later, I got out of bed with some hesitation. I quickly realized I had way less time to eat and get ready than I thought, so I skipped my shower, ate as quickly as possible and ran for the bus.

I got to school and a third of our diff. eq. class seemed to be missing. I wonder why? Class wasn’t too terrible, but I was struggling to stay awake towards the end. I had a two hour break before circuits and physics. After some heavy thinking, I made the calculated decision to skip circuits class. I knew we would be learning about Kirchoff’s rules, something I had done before. I planned to come back to school for physics, which I couldn’t afford to skip.

After class I headed to the BU office with some classmates to pick up my food stipend for the week. Additionally, I was able to show my bus receipt for Paris and got 20 euros of it reimbursed as a “cultural activity”. This was an incentive by BU for us to experience cultural activities.

I also finally got my birthday card that my parents mailed me a while ago. It must have gotten lost in transit somewhere.

The card my parents sent me, featuring my mom’s fancy handwriting. This is also my address for France, so send me something! (Just not anthrax please)

After leaving the office, I went to the French post office to send some mail. At the post office, I asked if they spoke English, and the attendants laughed at me. I was told this would happen frequently in France. I was able to tell them in French that I wanted to send things to the United States. I paid them two euros and got two stamps in return. I went outside to put on the stamps and shove my mail into the box. I was really struggling with removing the back of the stamp, then I had a realization. I had to lick the back of the stamp. This is either the way French stamps work, or I have super sticky saliva. Either way it was successful.

With 130+ euros to my name, I decided to treat myself and get lunch at a restaraunt. I randomly chose this brasserie called La Nat’. The food I saw people eating in the outside seating looked pretty good. As expected, no one spoke English and the menu was in French, but I managed to get by. I got a pasta carbonara that was only 9 euros and delicious. I will have to return here and try some of their other stuff later. I had some trouble asking for the bill, but with the help of google translate I figured it out.

My Pasta. Eggy-filled, cheesey and delicious.

After eating, I started walking home and stopped in a supermarket to buy my dinner for that night. I got a nice premade salad, a baguette and tonic water. Once I got home, I unpacked all my stuff and did a much-needed load of laundry. While waiting for my laundry, I took a shower and rested for a bit.

My laundry hadn’t finished by the time I planned to leave, so I left it in the washing machine. I was interested to see what Anne-Marie would do with it while I was in class. I felt like leaving laundry in the machine was definitely a frowned upon activity in this household.

I headed to class and physics went by as usual. My classmates told me I had not missed much in circuits class. Tomorrow we would be going on a lab tour instead of having our usual two physics classes. After class, I headed immediately home.

Even after being here for almost three weeks, the alps are still so beautiful to see on a clear day. Here’s a picture I took near my house.

When I got back, my clothes were in two reusable grocery bags and the drying rack was set up in the corner. I don’t really love that Anne-Marie occasionally comes into my room, but I was grateful for her moving my clothes. The bowl on my desk was also filled with candy, which I guess is a nice trade-in for having my privacy slightly invaded.

After hanging all my laundry up, I pretty much did nothing for a solid two hours. When I started to get hungry, I prepared my dinner. Fortunately I had leftover gin from Paris, so I could enjoy a gin and tonic with my dinner. No Mom I’m not an alcoholic, don’t be worried. I’m hesitant to put my alcohol in the family fridge, so I usually keep it in a drawer in my room. When I need it to be cold, I just put the bottle outside on my window sill. How well it works depends on the temperature outiside, but is always better than lukewarm. It is much better for chilling white wine to a nice temperature.

My Dinner for this evening

After eating so many bad microwavable meals, I am definitely going to be eating a lot more salads. They taste way better and are healthier anyway. This also makes me feel better about eating so much bread. No I didn’t eat the whole baguette. My meal was a solid 7/10.

After dinner, I spent a solid 2.5 hours writing about my second day in Paris. I did so much that it took about two thousand words and a ton of time to describe all of it. I also found out via my classmates that one of my professor’s from last semester had a heart attack and died. This really bummed me out because I had liked him and his design class a lot. I am grateful I got to know him and have him as a professor.

Here’s his obituary:

http://www.bu.edu/today/2018/engs-herbert-voigt-remembered-as-dedicated-researcher-mentor/

After finishing my blog, I went to bed.