Settling In

Sorry I didn't post yesterday -- I've been running around acquiring things like laundry detergent! First off, here is a pic of my room, as promised:


That little dude on the bed is my abouna puppet, which I bought in Egypt because doesn't everyone need a monk puppet? I thought I should probably divulge this information because puppets are creepy, and I didn't want anyone to think that Madame de LA ROCHEFOUCAULD! had set it out for me or anything... I'm in the 16th arrondissement, which is a ritzy area. My balcony view is fabulous.


Yesterday I had my placement test. All of the new students were herded into a room together and given a writing exam that asked us to do things like describe pictures and read short articles about used furniture stores and finding roommates. All of this practical material of course meant that I didn't know any of the vocabulary. Why couldn't our test have had a passage about something important like monastic food consumption? We also got called out for interviews. I had never attempted to communicate in French before, so that was exciting! I must have done surprisingly well, because instead of putting me in total beginner class (A 1-1), I ended up in A 1-2. I'm not really sure how our class works yet -- I got dumped in haphazardly and didn't even know what level it was until someone in the class told me. But within a few days I expect things to even out. Some students only come here for 1-2 weeks and frankly that sounds crazy to me. One day is already gone and I'm nowhere near settled.

The best part about yesterday is that my good friend Wouter was in town for a meeting and wanted to hang out. He took me to a place he frequented when he lived in Paris, and we split a large quantity of meat. The pate looked, smelled, and most likely tasted like cat food. Is it wrong that I liked it anyway?