Gosh, I have so much to say I don't quite know where to start...

Sarah McLachlan's coming to Paris. But hell, her concert here is only on one night, and about twice the price it usually is in the States...Dido will also be here...same sad story.

I still have no Internet.

My parents visited last week and it was nice, though it just made me more homesick...I told my mom I needed to start exercising...she told me I needed to stop eating so much. Same old story.

I got new shoes. They hurt my feet. But now I like them...in an odd way...They got caught in the metro doors closing--I was wearing them. So, I too was caught in between those doors...Big metal scratches on my shoes...oh yeah, this was in Lille.

Will be going to Bordeaux this weekend...

Going to some thing tonight, dunno what...

Lots of work I'm behind on.

I have this new scarf obsession. Quite odd.

Maybe I should go into architecture...?

Am avoiding an Internet cafe, phone calls, text messages from a very scary person.

Finally met Hillel. Haha. Here's the story...for those who haven't heard it yet. I went to UEJF, a national Jewish French students organization...and got all set up with them. Anyway, the guy there told me there was another American, a guy named Hillel, who had come to them too. He asked me if I wanted Hillel's number so I could talk to him.

I said "no."

And he just stared at me...for a minute or two...I guess thinking I didn't understand him...

so i just feigned confusion...as if I hadn't understood him...i didn't want him to think i was heartless or something...

"oh, of course! sure!"

So, i got the damn number. Great. I called the guy and was like...

"um...i went to UEJF and they wanted to give me ur number, and um...I told them I didn't want it, but they stared at me oddly and i suppose thought I was antisocial or something if I didn't take it...so i got your number...and...am giving you a call...uh...hey..."

imagine tact. and then reverse it. i just wasn't in the mood. lol. but, in retrospect, it was rather funny...

anyway, that was like a billion weeks ago, and we finally met up today--I dragged him around with me while I was buying books for class. He's normal, and totally learning French here--didn't know any before. He's flying back home for his Med school interviews...which I imagine will cost him tons and tons of money...psycho!

What else? I spent more than $50 on all my apps. Gosh it was crazy...nine or 10 of them...can't even remember...yesterday I just knocked out an easy app to some conference...now those things are a piece of cake. resume? check. cover letter? ...gimme...2 minutes...check! references? check! essay?...damn YOU! I hate those essays...

Man, I've taken so many pictures since my parents visited...at least 800...I'm gonna just put them up in an album from now on, the site would take forever to load...lol. plus, those captions are tiring! tho i will try to keep captioning.

geez, so much has happened. i can't even type it all. i'm trying to fig out how i can do Germany and Switzerland in the next month and a half...while doing classes, papers and exams...i got a pass...but no time...and I can't skip out on our classes, they're way too small (good and bad at the same time)...

anyway, this was quite a rambly post. and i don't suppose most ppl will read it. it was more a way to just talk to someone...most ppl aren't up this early anyway...hmm...that sounds rather loserli-ish. well, i mean, i could go and randomly blabber this stuff to ppl here...and I mean, i have spoken with ppl here...but, i suppose this site is seen by those i would like to be speaking with.

wat else? my mom came here with a big box of proactive (acne medication) that she had ordered overnight delivery before coming here...hahaha...i guess i'm an emergency case!

i'm usually quite a slacker when it comes to things like meds and any sorta regimen...but, i'm doing my best. i figure, i owe it that much.

oh yes! there's a couple bars here that are having all night events for the election...they charge outrageous prices, but let u watch television all night there and get food/drinks, etc...it's an allnighter event for expats and anyone interested...sounds kewl...

however, a friend of mine in the program also has a tv, and he said ppl could come over and watch it at his place...as long as they bring wine...(i'm sure he was kidding)...i'm quite excited! after that all nighter, there will be a wrap-up, post-election brunch. depending on the outcome...i may or may not go...hehe...

As for what happened with the Internet...

the day it was supposed to come...Oct. 18, my parents were with me. It didn't come. I called the company that night. My parents were right there with me. I got ahold of some guy there...and he told me...it was sent, but sent back! the name on the mailbox didn't match! THE SAME FREAKING THING AS LAST TIME!!! I went absolutely hysterical...finally able to get upset in French...I said, I'd called a billion times and everyone told me they'd made the change to the name on the package...which I had kept repeating to them to do...obviously they hadn't! I was so mad I almost started crying on the phone...(and I shamefully broke down later when describing the whole thing to my parents...)...i mean, it's been months now! The guy told me he would make the change and resend it...that i'd have it in about another week...(hopeully the damn post office won't go on strike again!)...it's already been a week...and it's a daily waiting game. that. i. detest. the damn thing better work when i get it and try and set it up.

I suppose i've sort of resigned myself to the fact that nothing works here. I mean, my dad lugged all through Europe a huge attenae, etc...for television on the computer. He was so sure it would work...and I was hopeful, but quite cynical. i kept asking him if it would actually work when he set it up...and he had no doubts...sadly...that made me doubt it (not him!) more...b/c...well...he doesn't know France. Unfortunately, I was right. He tried and tried. Alas, it doesn't work here. WHY? Because. That is my curse.

Oh yeah, and then they saw the same thing at a local store for 100 euros...~$135 (thank you exchange rate).

I feel so baldy for making my parents lug so many things over here for me...they showed me all the bruises they had on their hands from the suitcases...

It was quite some pressure trying to show my parents around. I wanted to make their trip worth it to them, b/c they could easily have travelled three other places in all Europe instead of staying holed up in Paris with me and wasting their train tickets (they ended up using only two of five, which is why i have three to use in a very short amount of time...Anyway, no matter what I did, or what we did...I always felt like it wasn't enough, good enough or nice enough for them. They never said anything! But...i just felt that way...In the end I felt quite like a failure in my attempts to make their trip worthwhile. I don't know what I could have done differently, at the time...But...I feel, and felt throughout the time, gosh...just quite sucky, and always upset because every moment spent with them was a moment less spent with them, and a moment closer to their departure. how do you deal with that?

We went to the Loire Valley, and that was wonderful...despite the strange, literally strange, weather. Then when we got back, synagogue swallowed our lives and just made me depressed. I also got sick, from lack of sleep and everything, cuz every night I'd try and catch up my work after my parents went to sleep, and then wake up early with them. I also just couldn't sleep...

Anyway, they left Sunday morning...we were in a rush because I had set the alarm for 5:30 p.m. instead of 5:30 a.m...stupid me...so we all woke up at 6:30 a.m. (thankfully my dad wakes up really early quite naturally--tho i wouldn't call that natural...heh)...anyway, we got to the train station..and i was late for something myself...but wanted to stay with my parents. i showed them the train, said goodbye, but then...followed them to make sure they got on the right one...then said goodbye again. then, when the train arrived, my mom ran back to give me a hug goodbye. it took lots of will power not to start crying. and i just blinked and swallowed like a maniac. all clear.

on another note, i know how to get a free ipod, but only if i'm in the USA, so much for that. doesn't life suck sometimes?