Heat-Day 117-May 7th, 2018

Today was a Monday, but it was also my last day of classes. Even better, I only had one class today and it was all review. I got up at 8 AM today and it was barely even a struggle to get out of bed. I ate my breakfast and got ready to head to school.

My commute to school was fairly normal, though it was very hot and sunny today. I actually remembered to wear my sunglasses to school for once too. I wasn’t expecting a huge turnout for class since a lot of people were away. This seemed to be the case since I was one of the three people that were there five minutes after class started. Another ten people did end up showing up though, just a little late.

Today’s class was extremely useful. We went over a very long and complex problem that is likely to be very similar to the one on the exam. Or at least the professor strongly hinted at this. I left class feeling very strong with the material and knowing exactly what I needed to study. Also I’m not sure if I mentioned this in a previous blog, but I’m hoping the professor and I’s bond to Berkeley Heights will help me get a better grade. My math professor worked at Bell Lab in Berkeley Heights for almost ten years when he was younger. It’s crazy that I can find connections to my hometown all the way in France.

After class, I headed to the Geant Casino with Jonathan. I described this once in a blog from January, but it is a gigantic supermarket near the university. Most supermarkets are very tiny in France, so it’s unusual to have a Walmart sized one here. I’ve been here once, but after a few months of shopping at small stores, I was super impressed by the selection today. I didn’t even have to buy any groceries, though I did buy bacon flavored potato chips to have with my lunch.

After shopping, I headed home in the sweltering heat to eat some lunch. My bag of chips was not huge, so I justified eating the entire thing. I also had a pb&j because what else do I ever eat.

My room has been a sauna the past couple days and there’s not much I can do besides opening the window. As a result, I have been getting into the habit of lying in bed in my underwear until I’m cooled down. I did this for a while after lunch and watched an episode of this show Atlanta. Once properly cooled down, I headed to the BU office to pick up my money for the week.

At the office, I was able to pick up the grade for my “Ethnographic Field Journals” we had to write for French culture class. If you recall, instead of following any of the guidelines they set, I just submitted a link to my blog without editing anything. I tried to link all the ones where I talked more about culture. I was a little afraid I would get a bad grade because I barely talked about culture and more about going to bars with my friends.

To my surprise, I got a really good grade and the professor loved it. The comments said she highly enjoyed reading it, thinks this could be a good model for other students to follow, and hopes I continue my blogs. Even though I mainly write this blog for myself, it is nice to get some positive feedback once in a while.

None of my friends were at the office, so I didn’t stay for long. My fifteen minute walk home was a bit brutal due to the heat. It’s only around 85 degrees, but it’s very humid. When I got back to my room, I immediately stripped down to my underwear again. Anything to stay cool.

Gris-Gris, the family cat, must have the same feelings as me

I relaxed for about forty five minutes until I felt cooled down again. After this, I changed and headed to the gym. Today was a nice biceps and shoulders day.  As always, I finished with an ab workout. I returned home very sweaty and hopped in the shower.

I was about to make myself dinner when I remembered that I had a host dinner tonight. Thirty minutes later, the dinner bell rang. The appetizer tonight was some form of peeled potatoes with a flaky bread thing that almost resembled a cupcake. The main course was sausages, onions and more potatoes. After the bread and cheese, we had ice cream pops.

We had a lot of nice discussions at dinner. We talked a little about my trip Italy and Andre talked a lot about different historical things. He really loves history. Tomorrow is VE day, which stands for victory in Europe from World War Two. Considering France was occupied during World War II, this is an important day for France and everything’s closed.

I was worried that everything would be closed in Milan tomorrow, but I conveniently remembered that Italy was part of the Axis powers during WWII. This meant they had no reasons to celebrate VE day and everything would be open. This was pretty convenient for me because I want to go to a bunch of different clothing stores tomorrow.

After dinner, I packed up my bag for Italy and got everything else ready. My bus is at 5:45 tomorrow morning, so it’s going to be an early night for me. The trams don’t run until 6, so I have to walk forty minutes to the tram station. I’ve done this a bunch of times though, and its really not too bad.