Chapter 7: Back to the F-Rennes-ds Drawing Board...

suspenders post #7

On the walk home, I found this long line of thin string. I took it home and started making a fishing rod. Pascal said he didn't know if there were fish in the canal, so I thought I'd check. I took apart an earring and made a hook. Then I made a weight with a broken piece of glass. Then I made a float with a bottle cap. I attached the line to the broom that came with my motel room. I made baguette bait. I woke up at 6am (because I went to bed at 10pm) and walked past where the boats are to where there weren't any people. I fished and read Hemingway (loving it, AW) for an hour or so. Not even a bite! I wasn't really disappointed, though. I just wanted to try.

It seems as though my days here are really full, but really I have to fill them myself. With no friends (except Pascal, Fabien and kiosk man - all of whom are working when we're "chilling"), and no job yet, I do a couple of hours of banking type stuff and then have close to 15 hours to figure out. I'm used to working and hanging all day, so it's definitely different being on my own. There are a bunch of things that I want to join (v-ball team, maybe dance lessons..) but nothing has started yet.

These are some of the activities I do:
1. The A to Z Game
Time myself filling out the A to Zs of a category that I pick. Some are easier (countries) and some are really tough (musical instruments). I'm getting faster, though.
2. Memorizing Backwards
I don't have many books here, but I pick a passage and memorize it. Then I memorize it backwards.
3. Alliteration Stories
Trying to write stories where every other word starts with the same letter. It's hard. Example sentence: A fresh apple is always good.
.......There are more, but I'll maybe write about them in a later post.....

Sooooooooo yes. I'm keeping myself well amused. As for whether or not Pascal is a hottie. The answer is no. He's too old. Teens can't own coffee shops, silly! I'm glad, too. I want to come here all year, and when you dump a boyfriend, you can't really go back to his coffee shop all of the time. That's mean.

FACTS ABOUT FRENCH DOGS (That's another example of activity 3):
1. Dogs here are only allowed to poop in designated pooping sections. These sections are long strips of sand, only for dogs. Every morning, workers come and rake up the poop. How refined!
2. I figured out why all the homeless have big dogs. The government passed a law that homelessness is illegal. There's also a law that dogs cannot be left alone on the street. Homeless peeps bypass law 1 by buying a dog and then accompanying it. So instead of being homeless, they're accompaniers of otherwise abandoned dogs.

My slum motel room is looking nice. I bought a mat for next to the bed and a couple of photo frames. I found the Rennes version of Honest Eds and obvi it is my new favourite store.

That's it for now.

Peace,
Hincks.