I switched up my routines this morning. I almost always shower at night, but I woke up feeling particularly gross and showered in. As usual, I tried to keep my shower short out of respect for anyone else who might need the bathroom. This is where I got a nice surprise. I remembered Andre and Anne-Marie were in Marseilles for the day to watch their son Jerome’s half marathon. Jessica was still staying with her real parents at their airbnb. This meant I was home alone for the first time in sixty-eight days. I would be lying if I didn’t say this was thrilling.
I still wasn’t positive I was home alone, so I did my first rebellious act. I went to eat breakfast without putting socks on. No one has ever specifically told me not to go barefoot in the house, but it seemed like it was a thing. Either way my hypothesis was true, I was home alone. While eating breakfast, I formulated a plan.
I am not allowed to use the kitchen, but here was my chance. I could use this opportunity to cook all the pasta I just bought using the stove, and not in the microwave. I could just put it in the Tupperware they gave me, and use it for a decent amount of meals.
If I was going to do this, I needed to be smart. I looked through all the cabinets until I found a pot and strainer. I did not touch them yet. First I took pictures of where everything was in the kitchen and in the cabinets. When I returned the items, they had to be in the exact same position. I was never here.
Once everything was planned out, I removed the pot and strainer. While I was grabbing the pasta upstairs, I did one last check to make sure no one was truly home. The coast was clear.
The stove was a bit tricky to figure out because half of the burners were gas and the rest were electric. It also didn’t hurt that all the buttons were labelled in French. I couldn’t figure out the gas burners, but I got the electric one to work. I filled the pot with water and we were good to go. To add to the experience, I grabbed my speaker from upstairs to play some cooking music.I wanted to go all out.
SCENES FROM THE CRIME
Ten minutes later, the pasta was cooked. I strained it and dumped the water in the sink. I put some of it in my bowl, then the rest into the Tupperware. Even with all the risks I was taking, I didn’t want to take the chance of making a cheese sauce. I wanted to be in and out as quickly as possible. Instead, I added some butter, milk, and a ton of cheese to the bowl. I mixed it in and put it in the microwave for a minute. I took it out, stirred, and put it back in for thirty seconds.
Mac and Cheese was a success!
Easily my best mac and cheese to date. I ate it pretty quickly and began the cleanup/cover up stage. I made sure everything was completely spotless and that there was zero evidence. I carefully placed the pot and colander in their exact spots in the cabinet.
The mission was a success. Risky, but the results paid off.
Despite my new freedoms today, I had to spend some time being productive after my pasta heist.
I gave my paper one last look, then submitted via email to my Professor. Then I spent some time working on my lab report from the other day. Since I was home alone, I used the opportunity to play music from my speaker while I worked. At school, I always play music loudly in my room and miss it a lot.
After I finished my work for the day, the rest was spent pretty much watching TV and relaxing. It was nice to have nothing to do.
There is some film promotion going on in Grenoble for the next three days where all movie tickets are only €4. I really wanted to see Black Panther but my friends wanted to go tomorrow. I was bored enough at home that I decided to go this evening, even if I went alone. How bad could it be?
Most of the movies are dubbed in at French, but they usually have one showing a day that’s in English with French subtitles. I bought tickets for this one.
It was soon time for dinner, so I made myself some more pasta. I used the old package of cheese since I didn’t want to waste it. This was a mistake because the cheese just clumped up and made the Mac and cheese worse. It wasn’t the worst, but I chucked the old bag of cheese anyway.
Mac and Cheese Attempt # 4
After dinner it was time to head to the theater, which is one of the few places in Grenoble near me. I showed my digital ticket to the employee and headed in. This was a pretty big movie theater and I was impressed.
Here’s a random picture I snapped for blog purposes
While the movie was in English, all the trailers were in French and it was a pretty surreal experience.
Here’s a picture of a trailer and some French subtitles.
The movie ended up being really good and I’m glad I finally got to see it.
Going to the movies alone ended up being a really cool experience too. While I missed having someone to discuss the movie with afterwards, it was nice that I could just sit down, have a great movie experience, then get up and leave. I would definitely see a movie again by myself.
When I got home, I talked to my parents for a while over FaceTime. Afterwards, I wrote this blog post but got to tired to finish and went to bed.
Foreign Tourist with No Grasp of the Local Language 
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