Chapter 36: Surfing USA

nerd blog post #40

Cynthia arrived home Thursday evening with a baguette and delicious cheese. We nibbled on that and I decided not to go to Merrill's, or the concert, and just stayed in. It was good.

Friday was a great day. Andorra and I went for a one and a half hour walk - to the bus depot to get the schedule for bookland, to Hossoen's to say hello, and up and down the cobblestones streets of Rennes. Andorra is a good companion, but a bit of a wiener. Apparently, when she was a pup, she fell down a flight of stairs, and now her medical record says she's a bit depressed... Doggie depression. What this means, for Andorra, is that she's kind of scared of everything. Other dogs, crowds, and ambulances. While crossing a major street (at a green light), the sirens of an ambulance fast approaching came on, and Andorra hit the deck. In the middle of the intersection. "Allez, Andorra!" Nope. The ambulance had to stop while I peeled the dog off of the road, her legs jetting to the sides of her body, and her face in the tar. Oh, Andorra!

Last night I went over to Merrill's house where she was having a little wine party with a bunch of peeps we work with. I sipped wine and ate pistachios. It was good. I also cut two people's hair. I think I should start charging.

This morning, Cynthia, Andorra and I went to the market and we bought mussels for tonight. This might be a disastrous project, but I'm excited to try it out. Hossoen's recipe seems foolproof, but I have been known to burn some pretty "easy" meals, so we'll see.

In the afternoon, we went to that bookland. It's forty minutes away by bus, and costs under $5 for a return trip. Besherel is a town of 700 peeps. We had two hours to see it. That's about 1.75 too many. The town has one grocery store, one bakery, one corner store, one restaurant, and about a dozen bookstores. And that's it. It was beautiful, as all French towns seem to be... The bookstores were really neat - thousands of used books, musty smells, old shopkeepers. It felt like a scene from a movie. I wanted to purchase Albert Camus' L'Etranger (The Stranger or The Outsider, in English) and the man gave it to me for free! What a deal. That is one of my favourite books. After browsing every, single store, we had a coffee and a treat in a cute little cafe, attached to a bookstore. The lady told us about the festivals that happen there every year. It was a really nice afternoon.

After moules et frites, we're going dancing. Standart.

The exciting news of the week is that I've firmed up my plans for my week off, which starts after classes on Thursday. We had originally planned to go to England and then to Krakow, but it didn't work out.. But instead......

Cynthia and I found really cheap tickets to fly from Paris to Milan, and are going for three nights, from the 30th to the 1st of November. Where are we staying? Weellllll.... My parents have an American friend who has an Italian wife who has a brother in Milan. I thought that would be perfect. After not hearing back for a couple of days, and in fear that flights would continue to rise, we booked. I thought that the only way it wouldn't work out was if the family was out of town. So we gambled. Turns out, they're out of town. Spend money on a hotel? No way. How about a hostel? Nuh uh. Join couch surfers of the world unite1000? Sure!

Couch surfing is something I've wanted to sign up for for a long time. It's right up my alley. It combines some of my favourite things, including strangers, travelers, foreigners, sharing, and sleepy ovaries. It's an international network where people sign up to host and be hosted. It's based on trust, and costs nothing. So now that I'm a member, if someone wants to stay in Rennes, they can check out my profile and request to stay with me. I can say yes or no, depending on my availability and comfort level. All messages are monitored for safety, and people review other hosts. Obviously there's a level of sketchiness, but I think it sounds awesome. And so, I signed up, e-mailed Stefano, and got a reply within hours. We're staying all three nights with him - he's a young filmmaker who lives downtown and seems really nice. He gave us directions from the airport to his place and will meet us and give us a key. From there, he may decide to show us around, or he may just leave us to hang. On the Friday, Cynthia and I are planning a day trip to Venice. I worry that some of you will think that this is not a wise way to travel.. But couch surfing has existed for awhile, and has a really high success rate. I also feel more comfortable having a friend with me. Plus, I love adventures.

I have exactly eleven days to learn Italian. I'm not discouraged. I took a book out of the library, and have been looking online. I (and this is a personal preference..) have decided not to be an English-speaking tourist in a foreign land. I'm pumped to learn as much as I can and get along just fine in Italian. I'm optimistic about it, as always. We'll see how it goes... This means that my other new languages ride the back burner for a couple of weeks, which I think is okay.

The rest of the week will be spent in Paris. I'll leave Thursday afternoon, and have a full week there. I look forward to, this time, seeing some museums (from the inside!) and walking around a lot. They say you can walk across Paris in a day. RtC and I would like to try. Viktor - you in!?

That's it for today. Love to you all.

Peace,
Hincks.

Important side note:
Today is Steven L. Schadinger's birthday. 60 points for being born today. An additional 15 for it being on the 18th, just like mine! His birthday party is themed, "Nerd Blog," and everyone has to dress up as a chapter from my nerd blog. He and Mane Man are going as a pair - Sammys and 'Pagne. Whitelow will be Thelma, and Wray is going to be THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER. Have fun, boyz! And happy birthday, SLS.