Chapter 76: Surprise Party

nerd blog post #82

Oh hey everyone. Sorry for the delay.

I went to Paris for the week-end, and didn't pre-post about it because it was a surprise. Well, I couldn't really wait so of course I told Viktor. But I left very early on Friday morning and waited outside clown school as a surprise party. Raffi was surprised.

On Friday evening, we ate at the caf with Viktor and Nicole, who is a Canadian clown from Vancouver who studied at York. Then we went to Raffi's for coffee, dessert and wine. The German clown, Michael (who is a good friend. At least I think we're good friends) came as well. We played games such as famous person on forehead and ask questions to find out who it is and a survivor game. I won the first one. I was Bambi.

On Saturday, I went shopping for rubber boots. I don't want wet feet anymore! Plastic Bag Foot hasn't been working in this country and I decided that it was time to invest in waterproof footwear. There is simply too much rain. I got ones that are trendy AND waterproof. And they were on sale. Fun Fact: It is a French law that sales can only happen twice a year. In January (though it spills into February) and in July. Outside of those two months, stores are not allowed to have sales. Thoughts?

I also googled "cheap pints Paris" and found a place called The Wall that has 3 euro pints. Raffi, Viktor, German clown, British clown and French clown went to the Wall and had a great night. The Wall rules.

On Sunday evening, Viktor, Nicole, Raffi and I went over to an Italian clown's house. He's from Milan and was very nice to me before I visited there - telling me the good spots to check out. He is also the man who lent us his apartment on Christmas eve to have a nice dindins. We went over there and had a delicious pancake dinner. He showed us some of his photography and played nice music. He has lived in Cambodia, West Africa, New York... He has a great outlook on life and it was a nice evening.

Perhaps the highlight was yesterday afternoon when Raffi and I went to an exhibit at the Grand Palais. It was called Six Billion Others. 5000 people were video interviewed in over 75 countries and asked the same 40 questions. Then the interviews were split up and categorized into themes. Inside the beautiful Grand Palais, there were tents that you went inside and watched a number of the interviews on loop. There was one on happiness, on love, on technology, on memories, on family, on war, and on and on... From farmers in the poorest countries to business men in the richest to Rwandan genocide survivors to students... It was very moving and interesting to see how similar answers were from people from very different walks of life. The way that everyone values family and seeks happiness through love. Anyways, maybe it sounds cheesy, but it was powerful and I'm glad I was able to see it before it closes this Thursday.

Arriving back in Rennes in the evening, I was welcomed by Benito, Merrill and Cynthia who were cooking up a feast. We ate pizza and then went to Foun's house for her birthday party. We didn't stay too long but I was glad we went. She has been such a good friend here in Rennes.

Today, the rumours of a blockade at the university were proved true. I arrived for my 8h15 class to find every building's entrance blocked with chairs and tables, making it unable to get in. Students decided on Friday to block 90% of the school's entrances. To do this, they pile the furniture from the classrooms and then jump out the windows. Every entrance was guarded and people were handing out information flyers. No one really knows how long it will last, but it looks as though my Reading Week will commence now. Hopefully all will be solved by the time we get back.

The good thing is that I have a ton of laundry, e-mails and course prep to do before I leave Rennes for ten days on Thursday. So having today off is actually kind of nice.

I hope you all had a good week-end!

Much love,
Hincks.