Let me preface this by saying that, this week and most especially these 3 days, I am experiencing what we females affectionately like to call P.M.S. More hormones than usual run through one's body during this time, making me more much on-edge and emotional than usual. I don't guys don't really want to hear this, but it's the truth. :) Sorry 'bout it.
Today was a good day. I skipped class in the morning for the first time (I know, right...and I ended up missing a lot too) and then went to the catacombs in the afternoon. Basically Paris has these networks of underground tunnels (even underneath the metro and the RER) where, during the 1700s, they exhumed all the bodies from the cemetaries of Paris and STACKED THE BONES in the tunnels. It's basically leg and/or arm bones alternated with skulls in layers....for miles of tunnel. There's a lot. And they're just loosely stacked so you can pick one up and hold it. I held a leg bone and other people dared to hold skulls. Aahhhhhh! And there's freaky quotes about death and mortality in Latin and French.
But anyhoo, after that and running some errands, it was time to get stamps(timbres) to send to all you lovely America-dwellers. (So, really, it's your fault.) I knew you could get stamps at a Tabac which is like a tiny counter of a store where you get cigs and lotto tickets, but I hadn't seen one near school so I decided to ask my host mom where there was one in our neighborhood. She specially instructed me that there was one just down the street, right next to a Monoprix. So I set out, and didn't see anything. Walked a little more, still didn't see anything. Finally, I see a Monoprix, but with nothing next to it. I walk a little further down and pass a news stand, and still don't see ANYTHING resembling a Tabac, so I decide the newsstand must be what she was talking about, and walk back. Confidently and friendly-ly I ask him if I could buy stamps there. Deadpan no. There's a post office somewhere around here. Bye. (It's the dreaded French unfriendliness that all the books talk about and that scares Americans, and Japanese.) I was so disarmed from his coldness and dismissiveness that tears welled up. I stopped them, but at the expense of a HUGE tight knot in my throat hurt like hell. I kinda got things under control and went into a stationery shop to ask them where the nearest tabac was. Again, uber polite, perfect French. This lady was a lot nicer and told me where one was...but my listening skills aren't super good so I was still kind of guessing. I saw a sign that said "Tabac" so I knew it had to be it. I went up and proudly asked the worker for 2 carnets of stamps. "Pour la France?" "Pour envoyer aux Etats-Unis." (to send to the United States.) He got the look of dismissal on his face and shook his head no. Something about hear no, when it was unanticipated, really shakes me up. So what, there's two different kinds of stamps? I can't get stamps today? I walked all the way over here for nothing? I could. Not. Stop. Trust me, I tried. But as I was walking back tears were just all over my face. It just rushes at me and I can't control it, even when I'm actually thinking logically and my head is in control. (I really don't know how you non-cryers do it. Cause I literally can't help it.) It wasn't a big problem, a little frustrating, but honestly not a big problem. I walked back home and she was like "YOU COULDN'T FIND IT?" I didn't want to tell her how off her directions were, and I did find it (or one) eventually, but I told her what happened and was still cryish and tried to explain in French about hormones and PMS but of course I didn't know any vocab so I don't think the idea really transmitted. I don't know why, but after about 2 minutes of talking to her another uncontrollable deluge came out, and I was so so embarassed and wanted to stop so bad, because obviously it makes her think that thinks are way worse than they are, that I'm really upset, when really it wasn't a big deal, it's chemicals in my brain causing salty water to come out through small holes near the bridge of my nose. She said that what the guy had said at the tabac was wrong, that I could send postcards using French stamps, I just had to put 2 or 3 instead of 1 stamp on them. She emphasized this over and over again, and told me she knew another place, and offered to accompany me there. So I cleaned up a little bit and we walked there and I bought stamps which were freaking expensive (14 Euro for 24, for 12 postcards and the postcards were 1 Euro each so 26 Euros which is like more than 30 dollars just to mail postcards...sheeesh!) But I got stamps! Finally. Now to write and send all 12 of them. I have about 2 unassigned ones so if you'd like one hit me up.
I'm super excited about Loire Valley this weekend! I love weekend trips! Especially when I don't have to plan anything. Hoorah seeing more of France!!! :)
I've been stressed this week about: finding housing for next year, planning my Italy trip (extra charges on my credit card, websites not working, everything's in Italian), teaching cred stuff for next year (b/c of France I'm late on my cert. of clearance stuff so I've been applying and re-applying online...again, more costs), and my self-imposed stress of uploading my pictures and writing my postcards, combined with living in a foreign country and having PMS. This was also the week I got a little homesick. Plus it rained 2 days. I have a feeling it will be better soon and I can ride out the last 2 weeks feeling a little better than I did this week.
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